Today's News

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WASHINGTON

Regulators shut down South Carolina's only minority-owned bank and sold its deposits and some assets to African-American investors. Page 2

COMMUNITY/REGIONAL

Avoiding a confrontation with its largest shareholder, Bank Plus of Los Angeles agreed to award a seat on its board to Hovde Financial. Page 7

MORTGAGES

Norwest Mortgage's deal to sell nearly all its conventional loans to Freddie Mac caught the attention of Wall Street and fixed-income investors, who greeted the news by selling Freddie's bonds. Page 9

Enabling people to apply on-line for mortgages was no easy sell to upper management at Money Store, a top executive says. Page 9

NATIONAL/GLOBAL

Regis McKenna, head of McKenna Group in Palo Alto, Calif., urges the banking industry to invest more heavily in technology. He also says banks could benefit from the kind of grassroots marketing that made Main Street phenomena out of companies like Starbucks. Page 4

Bank One plans to roll out its biggest broadcast and print branding effort to date in coming months-a $60 million advertising campaign. Page 5

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

INSURANCE: Now that HR 10 is once again high on the legislative agenda in Washington, there are insurance opportunities and pitfalls ahead, writes James Overholt of Milliman & Robertson. Page 10

TECHNOLOGY

Legal alarms about the year-2000 computer bug are not getting any softer. A Washington lawyer said there is concern about litigation and the costly consequences for institutions that do not fix their systems in time. Page 13

CARDS

When the new Cleveland Browns play their first game in September, MBNA is sure to have a noticeable presence. Page 15

DIGITAL FRONTIERS

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: High technology has put Ennis, a town of 17,000 people in County Clare, Ireland, on the map. Page 16

MARKETS

Six weeks after his investment management team resigned, Harry V. Keefe Jr. is battling back. Back page ===

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