WASHINGTON
A Democratic alternative to House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach's financial reform proposal emerged this week. Page 2
MORTGAGES
Fears of growing political and interest rate risk were behind two days of sharp price declines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock, analysts say. Page 6
Liberty Life Insurance has expanded its cross-selling of mortgage products with an aggressive marketing approach using lists of borrowers. Page 6
HOME EQUITY: U.S. Bancorp is expanding its commitment to nonconforming mortgages-increasing its stake in a subprime lender and buying about $900 million of high-LTV loans from a troubled lender. Page 7
MARKETS
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance has bought Essex Corp., the leading provider of investment products to banks, from Cendant Corp. Page 22
veteran bank stock investor Harry V. Keefe Jr. is turning up the heat in his quest to get Chicago's St. Paul Bancorp to put itself up for sale. Mr. Keefe, who oversees two hedge funds that hold 3% of St. Paul stock, is sending a letter to all 6,000 of the shareholders urging them to push for a sale. Back page
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York named a former Mellon vice chairman as first vice president, the bank's No. 2 official. Back page
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Alliance Capital has scored two distribution coups, winning spots on the rosters of preferred mutual fund providers at First Union and KeyCorp. Page 8
COMMUNITY
A South Carolina community bank signed a deal with American Express that is expected to double the number of free automated teller machines available to the bank's customers. Page 9
TECHNOLOGY Page 10
DIGITAL FRONTIERS
SMART CARDS: The U.S. subsidiary of the German electronics company Siemens committed to smart cards for corporate travel and entertainment. Page 12
CORPORATE FINANCE
U.S. securities firms, building on 15 years of experience here, have created a host of indexes to track the emerging European market for junk bonds. Their aim: to increase liquidity while boosting their own market share. Page 21
