REGIONAL BANKING: L.M. BAKER Jr., the new chief executive at Wachovia, has put his stamp on the conservatively run company with a strategic shift that involves major organizational and structural changes. Page 4 STANDARD & POOR's analysts told a recent conference the U.S. banking market remains oversaturated, decentralized, and fragmented. Page 4 WASHINGTON: THE LAST FAILED thrift in the government's inventory, Carteret Federal Savings Bank, Newark, N.J., was sold in parts to seven institutions Friday, ending the cleanup of the $150 billion savings and loan crisis. Page 2 THE NEXT MOVE in the BIF/SAIF debate is Ricki Tigert Helfer's. The Clinton administration, Congress, and the banking and thrift industries are all waiting to hear the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman's prescription. Page 3 CREDIT UNIONS: ARBITER of the industry's direction describes the National Credit Union Administration after its handling of the proposed merger between two large West Coast credit unions, which died March 3. Page 7 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MARKETING EXECUTIVES said they are well equipped to help banks toe the compliance line with training programs, informational brochures, and other services. Page 8 SHOPPING for a home can be really taxing. Just look at the investment products marketing firms that have spent the past four months shopping around for a trade group where they could all settle down. Page 8 COMMUNITY BANKING: UNITED BANKSHARES of Parkersburg, W.Va., the second-largest bank holding company in the state, is expanding its Virginia operations by acquiring a $61 million-asset bank. Page 12 HUBCO in New Jersey took an eight-day strike to win open-shop status for employees. Now, of 700 employees, including part-timers, only 120 are in the bargaining units, and only 60 pay dues. Page 13 MORTGAGES: CHASE MANHATTAN Bank appears to have the inside track in the bidding for the $9 billion Wachovia servicing portfolio. A final agreement could come soon, according to sources following the deal. Page 14 TECHNOLOGY: STERLING SOFTWARE, the leading provider of electronic data interchange systems, has acquired Maxxus Inc., a San Francisco-based developer of cash management software for small banks. Page 16 3 NEW THRIFT customers were signed up by Electronic Data Systems for the core processing software, known as Miser, it recently acquired from Computer Associates International. Page 17 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: SBC COMMUNICATIONS released details of its previously announced cobranded Visa card; it is following a trend that dictates you must beat the competition with greater rewards and lower interest rates. Page 18 WHEN CROWDS filed through the gates at many Six Flags theme parks that opened for the season last weekend, they saved on admission, gifts, and food when they paid with a MasterCard. Page 18 FINANCE: STOCK BUYBACKS as a means of soaking up the pool of excess capital in the banking industry demonstrated enormous vigor in 1994, and experts are predicting a further avalanche of repurchases this year. Page 22
