REGIONAL BANKING:
FIFTH THIRD Bancorp of Cincinnati has agreed to buy First Nationwide Bank's Ohio branch network for $129 million. Page 4
BANC ONE CORP. has named Michael T. Vea president and chief executive of its Cincinnati subsidiary. He succeeds Emerson Brumback, who will assume responsibility for the parent company's national branch system. Page 4
WASHINGTON:
SENATE BANKING Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato agreed to avoid CRA issues in return for his panel's bipartisan support on other regulatory relief measures. Page 2
THE FDIC has been ordered to pay $350,000 to an employee who claimed her supervisor retaliated after she had filed a sex discrimination complaint. Page 3
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:
LIBERTY FINANCIAL Bank Group has launched a marketing campaign that targets bank customers who need advice on investing for a child's college education. Page 7
MORTGAGES:
PRESTON MARTIN, a former Federal Reserve Board vice chairman, and Dan McConnell, founder and former chairman of Invest Financial in San Francisco, have joined forces to offer a new product that combines a mortgage and a life insurance policy. Page 8
MORTGAGE LENDERS may be caught unaware by new disclosure requirements that take effect on Oct. 1, industry observers say. Page 8
COMMUNITY BANKING:
SEVERAL BANKERS in the West have pledged to improve access to financial services - particularly home loans - for Navajo Indians on reservations. Page 9
ASIAN INVESTORS, flush with cash, are increasingly setting their sights on California's community banks. Page 9
COMPLIANCE:
HUD WILL CONSIDER easing requirements that mortgage brokers disclose all fees paid to them by banks. Page 10
REGULATORS GAVE four bank executives a chance to present their concerns about enforcement of revised Community Reinvestment Act rules, but the executives were prevented from observing examiners' first training session last week in Dallas. Page 10
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
AS VISA International and Microsoft Corp. unveiled a technology standard for payments over open computer networks like the Internet on Wednesday, MasterCard was conspicuously absent. Page 15
TECHNOLOGY:
SIGNET BANKING Corp. has announced plans to expand its on-line information site to give customers full access to their accounts. Page 16
BANKAMERICA officials said last week they have signed a contract to install new digital telephone systems to be used by the bank's 140 foreign exchange and fixed-income-securities traders. Page 17
FINANCE:
ARBITRAGE-RELATED short interest continues to grow in shares of Cleveland's Charter One Financial.
Back page
DESPITE RUMORS that Meridian Bancorp was poised to announce merger plans, the board of the Pennsylvania-based regional emerged from its annual planning meeting with only a general statement of its strategy. Back page
