FINANCE:
MONEY MANAGER Robert Brody has been on a roll lately - picking big winners in the bank merger sweepstakes for Denver-based American Growth Fund.
Page 18
NATIONAL CITY's proposed acquisition of Integra Financial Corp. is one deal that hasn't received a ringing endorsement from investors. Back page
WASHINGTON:
TEXAS REGULATORS and an Arkansas bank will go head to head today in the first legal showdown since national banks began using a controversial rule to cross state lines last year. Page 2
HOW MUCH money did the Bank Insurance Fund have on June 30? Only the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. knows for sure, it isn't telling. Page 2
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
FIRST DATA CORP. said an agreement reached with the Federal Trade Commission staff should clear the way for its proposed $6.7 billion merger with First Financial Management, parent of Western Union and Nabanco. Page 6
VERIFONE INC. announced it will make a $4 million equity investment in Cybercash Inc. and gain a spot on the fledgling electronic payments company's board of directors. Page 6
TECHNOLOGY:
AGRIBANK has boosted its telecommunications horsepower, using services from MCI Communications Corp. to connect to more than 400 Farm Credit Services offices in the Midwest. Page 7
COMMUNITY BANKING:
A CONNECTICUT bank that in mid-July cited accounting errors in delaying its earnings report now says a former employee had fudged records of its investment portfolio for more than three years. Page 8
MORTGAGES:
FLEET FINANCIAL Group representatives, on hand for Fed hearings in Boston into the company's proposed merger with Shawmut National Corp., ended up defending the bank's finance unit against charges that it forced elderly and infirm borrowers from their homes. Page 9
REGIONAL BANKING:
FOLLOWING THE LEAD of others moving towards interstate branching, BayBanks Inc. said it will merge its three banks covering Massachusetts and Connecticut. BayBanks chairman William M. Crozier Jr., who also will head the new entity, said customers have long viewed the company as one bank and should notice no difference. Page 4
REGIONS FINANCIAL Corp. has another deal - the second announced in as many weeks - to buy an Atlanta community bank. Page 4
