Today's News

WASHINGTON: A MEASURE that would exempt certain small institutions from the Community Reinvestment Act was introduced in the House by Florida Republican Bill McCollum. Page 2 A SAMPLING of undercapitalized institutions showed that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took prompt corrective action against just 30% of the banks subject to the supervisory law. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: AS THE NEW congressional majority stands poised with its pruning shears, William N. Isaac has a suggestion: Don't lose sight of the General Accounting Office. Page 5 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MORE CREDIT UNIONS started selling mutual funds last year, but the growth didn't live up to expectations that 1994 would be a boom year. Page 6 THIRTY-FOUR bank-managed mutual funds made the Wall Street Journal's most recent quarterly ranking of the country's biggest, best, and worst - yet another sign of how banks are entering the mutual fund mainstream. Page 6 COMPLIANCE: BANKERS HAVE until Feb. 15 to comment on the Federal Reserve's new road map for compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Page 9 NATIONAL ATTENTION will be drawn to the Community Reinvestment Act during the upcoming Super Bowl weekend as Florida banks, the Habitat for Humanity, and the National Football League sponsor a home-building blitz. Page 8 COMMUNITY BANKING: MASSACHUSETTS' Cooperative Bank of Concord is restructuring operations by cutting 9% of its employees, dumping an unprofitable mortgage banking business, and consolidating several other divisions. Page 12 TECHNOLOGY: MASTERCARD International has aligned itself with Netscape Communications Corp. to ensure security of credit and debit card transactions over interactive networks. Page 19 MELLON BANK CORP., one of the industry's major cash management players, has unveiled a Windows-based version of its main cash management reporting product. Page 18 MORTGAGES: THE BAD NEWS only gets worse for the mortgage industry. Staff reductions are on the rise and there is no immediate relief in sight. Most of those already laid off were part-time and temporary employees, but full-time staffers may not escape downsizing for long. Page 14 HUNTINGTON MORTGAGE Co. has again replaced its chief executive. The Columbus, Ohio, home-lending subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares has announced that R. Frederick Taylor has taken over the reins of the bank's mortgage operations. Page 15 FINANCE: NATIONSBANK gained a fresh ally on Wall Street as Lehman Brothers issued a "buy" rating on the North Carolina-based superregional. Back page