Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING: BANC ONE's purchase of Premier Bancorp clears the way for the Ohio bank's chairman and CEO, John B. McCoy, to pursue other deals and gives Premier shareholders a chance to benefit from any appreciation in Banc One stock. Page 5 WASHINGTON: THE ADMINISTRATION may unveil a long-awaited formal proposal to prop up the fledgling thrift insurance fund when the Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on the topic that is expected July 28. Page 2 THE HOUSE BANKING Committee finished voting on the regulatory relief bill more than three weeks ago, but the report it issued this week has stirred up new debate. Page 4 COMMUNITY BANKING: CHARLES E. WALSH, president of the Iowa Independent Bankers Association and of Farmers and Merchants Bank and Trust in Burlington, wants Iowa to opt out of interstate branching. This would give small banks more time, he said, to study how the change would affect them. Page 7 TWO WESTERN Massachusetts mutual thrifts are showing they can compete and cooperate at the same time. City Savings Bank in Pittsfield and Lenox Savings Bank have joined forces to open a limited-service trust company. Page 7 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: EDWARD D. JONES & Co. has the green light from the Office of Thrift Supervision to complete its purchase of a small Missouri thrift, and it plans to close the deal today. The acquisition will enable Jones & Co. to consolidate the marketing and processing of its trust services. Page 10 FIDELITY INVESTMENTS has reshuffled the management of its bank sales group in response to bank moves to integrate their investment departments. Page 11 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: A START-UP company is planning to make its mark in the medical industry by offering private-label cards to people with hospital expenses, regardless of their credit histories. Page 12 FIRST-QUARTER marketing efforts are paying off on credit card specialists' bottom lines in the second quarter. Capital One, the nation's 12th-largest issuer, said its earnings grew 16.5%, to $29.6 million. Advanta, the 15th- largest issuer, said it completed its 24th consecutive record quarter. Its net rose 30%, to $33.4 million. Page 12 TECHNOLOGY: UNIVERSITY FEDERAL Credit Union, Austin, Tex., is introducing self-service kiosks, PC-based home banking, and access to information via the Internet in an attempt to cut transaction costs while offering more convenience. Page 15 MORTGAGES: JOHN KARASZEWSKI, recently named president and chief operating officer of Citizens Mortgage Corp., Atlanta, says the unit of Royal Bank of Scotland "wants to be an acquirer of other banks, which is a place I want to be." Page 9 FANNIE MAE announced that Larry H. Dale is stepping aside as its affordable-housing chief at yearend to head a new venture fund within the enterprise that will invest in hard-to-finance projects. Page 8 FINANCE: BANKERS ARE PRESSING for a flexible approach to calculating capital requirements for trading operations, but they could soon face more rigid regulation on an interim basis. Back page

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