WASHINGTON
By a VOTEof 404 to 24 the House approved legislation to limit year-2000 lawsuits. Page 2
NATIONAL/GLOBAL
Chase is selling its nine branches in the northern Caribbean to Virgin Islands Community Bank. Page 3
COMMUNITY/REGIONAL
Bay View CAPITAL in Northern California has made a $175 million bid for Bank Plus of Los Angeles, sources said. They said the deal does not include its troubled subprime credit card portfolio. Page 5
MORTGAGES
The executive who headed a fast-growing mortgage business at Advanta has joined American Business Financial of Philadelphia as chairman of its consumer mortgage group. Page 10
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Investors are pouring a lot of money into mutual funds, but are also cashing out more shares-and that is slowing the industry's growth. Page 8
The asset management arm of Unionbancal is taking its mutual funds national. The California company's HighMark Capital has started selling through regional brokerages and investment advisers, mostly in the West. "We're gradually working our way eastward," said R. Gregory Knopf. Page 9
VIEWPOINTS Page 6
DIGITAL FRONTIERS
Two start-ups are going directly to consumers to promote wider adoption of electronic bill presentment, offering Web sites that allow them to pay all their bills on-line. Page 12
Synovus Financial is gearing up to go virtual with a newly appointed CEO for synovusbank.com, which it plans to launch next year. Page 12
TECHNOLOGY
Mexico's Grupo Financiero has been experimenting with electronic banking to reach the majority of Mexicans who have no bank accounts. Page 13
USABanc.com has launched an ad campaign on the CNBC and MSNBC cable channels, committing $1 million for a two-month period. Page 13
MARKETS
Lehman put Firstar in its "10 Uncommon Values" portfolio, delivering a vote of confidence in the wake of Firstar's deal to buy Mercantile Bancorp. Page 22
The chairman and CEO of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods resigned after weeks of rumors that his tenure was in jeopardy. Back page
