Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING: FOREIGN BANKS are anxious to securitize, but their minimal deposit-taking makes this increasingly difficult. On other securitization fronts, banks have avoided auto loan deals but made strides with student loans. Page 6 WASHINGTON: KEY REPUBLICAN lawmakers in both the Senate and the House are getting ready for regulatory relief, round two. Page 3 THE SUPREME COURT ruled that states cannot invalidate arbitration clauses included in contracts between businesses and consumers, a decision that will help banks lower their legal expenses. Page 2 COMMUNITY BANKING: BRENTON BANKS in Iowa is moving quickly to transform itself into a sales machine. Page 8 CSF HOLDINGS, Florida's largest thrift, is finding ample opportunities to build its franchise in the state. Page 8 AN UPSTATE New York bank just got its name put on the map. Its chairman bought the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week for a reported record price. Page 8 MORTGAGES: FANNIE MAE and Freddie Mac had record profits in 1994 despite a sharp drop in the volume of residential lending. Page 10 COUNTRYWIDE Credit Industries announced a new FHA adjustable-rate mortgage that promises low down payments, low interest rate caps, and the option of financing closing costs. Page 11 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: THE NARROWING spread between rates paid on fixed annuities and on one-year CDs is slowing sales of fixed annuities, says consultant Kenneth Kehrer. Page 13 A NORTH DAKOTA brokerage, Investment Centers of America Inc., is succeeding where other marketers would like to grow - among banks with less than $500 million of assets. Page 12 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: THE CARD INDUSTRY hoped for a bonanza in federal and state governments' increasing acceptance of plastic in recent years, but progress has been slow. Page 14 CARD ESTABLISHMENT Services Inc., one of the top three providers of transaction services to retail merchants, has begun offering a new wireless point of sale terminal. VISA International is setting up an operation this month with five Romanian banks to bring credit cards to the country for the first time since the 1989 revolution that ousted the Communist government. Page 15 Page 15 TECHNOLOGY: AMERICAN EXPRESS Bank has signed a 10-year outsourcing agreement with Electronic Data Systems Corp., finalizing a tentative deal that was first announced in June. Page 5 FINANCE: CHASE MANHATTAN Corp. and First Chicago Corp. are expected to lead a $1.3 billion loan for CNA Financial Corp.'s acquisition of Continental Corp. Page 18 FLEET FINANCIAL'S stock went into a tailspin Thursday after a breakfast meeting with New York analysts that fueled doubts about the Rhode Island- based bank's ability to increase interest income. Page 20

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