WASHINGTON
Escalating the war of words over the Community Reinvestment Act, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm said the law encourages "bribery" and "extortion." Page 2
REGIONAL
Mellon is working with its most significant suppliers to learn about their year-2000 plans and testing schedules. Page 5
HF Bancorp in Southern California says it recovered all of a potential $2.9 million loss from a check-kiting scheme, and a merger partner says their deal will go forward. Page 5
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Northern Trust says it is hitting pay dirt by coordinating the sales efforts of its investment management unit and others, such as retirement plan administration and custody. Page 7
The former CEO of IFC Holdings is helping Multitech Brokerage Solutions of Florida identify potential acquisitions. Page 7
CARDS
Robin Abrams, president of Verifone, is about to fill one of the most talked-about job openings in Silicon Valley, heading 3Com Corp.'s Palm Computing division. The announcement came on the heels of the release of a major point of sale product, the Omni 3200. Page 10
MORTGAGES
HOME EQUITY: The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and other groups launched National Consumer Protection Week. Page 8
DIGITAL FRONTIERS
Visa International and its Belgium-based ally Proton claimed groundswells of vendor support for their respective smart card initiatives. Page 11
CERTICOM of Canada, which is selling an unconventional data security technology, is doing its part to promote another underdog: smart cards. Page 11
COMMUNITY
The joyride in earnings growth will likely end soon for most small banks, a Hovde Financial report found. Page 13
TECHNOLOGY
Customer confusion about on-line banking has created a business opportunity for help-desk companies. Page 14
Disaster recovery planning is moving to the top of banks' year-2000 agendas, a Bank Administration Institute conference was told. Page 15
MARKETS
CNB Bancshares and National City Bancshares, both of Indiana, said they had terminated their merger talks. Back page
