Today's News

L.M. "BUD" BAKER Jr. has stayed the course in his first year as chief executive of Wachovia Corp. But change is afoot at the North Carolina-based bank. Pull-out section WASHINGTON: LEGISLATION introduced by House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach and aimed at repealing the Glass-Steagall Act would also deprive thrifts of the few powers that give them an advantage over commercial banks, industry spokesmen charged. Page 2 REGIONAL BANKING: PNC BANK CORP. said it suffered a $79 million loss in selling $1.8 billion of fixed-rate securities in late December, which will push fourth-quarter earnings sharply below Wall Street expectations. Page 6 COMMUNITY BANKING: COMMERCIAL REALTY prices are on the rise again in New England, but community bankers remain gun shy about getting back into a market that caused them so much grief in the early 1990s. Page 7 AMFED FINANCIAL, Nevada's biggest thrift, sold the bulk of its nonperforming assets last week, a 414-unit apartment complex in Reno, cleaning up the one blot on its otherwise stellar record. Page 8 TECHNOLOGY: AFTER A BANNER year on Wall Street, financial technology firm Broadway & Seymour agreed to sell document imaging software rights and assets to Medaphis Corp. for $32.2 million in cash. Page 10 CREDIT UNIONS: BOEING EMPLOYEES Credit Union introduced home banking Oct. 1, and in the next three months, nearly 5,000 of its 180,000 members signed up. Page 14 MORTGAGES: CHRISTOPHER T. GILSON, brought in as president of Capstead Inc. about a year ago, expects the servicing rights he accumulated in 1994 to begin throwing off strong income this year - as much as $22 million. Page 16 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: AMERICAN SAVINGS of Stockton, Calif., has become one of the first banks to introduce a frequent-flier program linked to its debit card. Page 20 AMERICAN EXPRESS is tweaking its gold card program again with a price protection enhancement at no additional cost. Page 20 FINANCE: EARNINGS REPORTS may kindle a rally in bank stocks this week, but most Wall Street analysts do not expect any sustained market momentum for these beleaguered equities. Page 26