REGIONAL BANKING:
HIBERNIA CORP. will realign its banking regions now that a top executive has resigned to take a senior job with a leading subprime home equity lender. Page 4
DISGUST IS GROWING among bankers at a Congress supposedly friendly to them that has nevertheless been tied in knots by selfish interests who have seen gain for themselves in the Glass-Steagall reform bill, writes William Isaac. Page 5
WASHINGTON:
THE FEDERAL RESERVE Board proposed a rewriting of consumer leasing rules, including new disclosure requirements. Vice Chairman Alan Blinder was disturbed, however, that the disclosures exempted the annual interest rate consumers would pay. Page 2
HOPING TO RESOLVE potential antitrust obstacles to their planned merger, Fleet Financial Group and Shawmut National said they would sell 64 branches with $3.2 billion of deposits. Page 2
COMMUNITY BANKING:
UNITED BANK of Atmore, Ala., has been operating out of a nearby warehouse since Hurricane Erin ripped off its roof, causing more than $1 million in damage. Page 6
COMPLIANCE:
BANKS OF ALL SIZES are turning to a set of software products designed to help them comply with regulations of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control. Page 8
REGULATORS FROM ALL AGENCIES will begin weeklong training sessions on new Community Reinvestment Act exam procedures starting Sept. 18. Page 9
MORTGAGES:
BANKS LEERY of lending in Mexico may have hit upon a safer alternative - financing U.S. citizens' vacation homes there. Winning a favorable rating on the loans once they are securitized remains crucial, however. Page 10
KRAMER SPELLMAN L.P., a Fort Lee, N.J., partnership that holds 5.56% of Hamilton Financial Services Corp., has urged the company's board to seek a merger or sale. Page 10
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:
U.S. INSTITUTIONAL money managers continued to increase their exposure to international securities in 1994, despite a decline in most foreign markets during the year. Page 12
WHEN BANKS jumped into the fund sales business four years ago, service companies came on the scene with a slew of promises. Most of those promises remain unmet, writes A. Stewart Rose, and banks should demand more. Page 13
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
THERE'S GENERAL agreement that major consolidation in branches is coming, but there's disagreement about when the 50% reduction projected by Deloitte & Touche will arrive. Page 14
VISA U.S.A. has formed an alliance with the card processing affiliate of the Credit Union National Association, to provide commercial card services to credit unions. Page 15
TECHNOLOGY:
THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission is considering ways to keep a popular Internet data base of corporate filings from going off-line as a free service this fall. Page 18
THE NEW YORK Clearing House has agreed to help jump-start a stalled effort by the National Automated Clearing House Association to develop a low-cost financial electronic data interchange service. Page 17
FINANCE:
SENSING THAT Bankers Trust was changing for the worse back in 1989, Richard Tanenbaum left to develop option pricing software. His new product is designed to save users from the fate that befell BT customers such as Procter & Gamble. Back page
ASSET SECURITIZATION remains an effective tool for commercial banks, writes lawyer Christopher Aidun, and the long delay in federal efforts to impose capital charges has aroused skepticism. Page 22
