Today's News

WASHINGTON:

THE HOUSE COMMITTEE on Economic and Educational Opportunities approved a bill that would end the federal government's two-year experiment in direct student lending. Page 2

FROM NOW ON, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will give banks and thrifts a lot less time to adjust to changes in insurance premiums. Page 2

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:

BANKAMERICA has launched a fund family for novices, with investment horizons of 10, 20, and 30 years. "All they have to do is determine when they need the money," says BofA's Debra McGinty- Poteet. "We do the rest."

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DESPITE THE RISKS, nearly a third of investment fund managers use derivatives to boost returns or reduce investment risk, a recent survey found.

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REGIONAL BANKING:

UNION BANK and Bank of California, answering the biggest question about their planned merger, said it should save $90 million annually by 1998.

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COMMUNITY BANKING:

GEORGIA BANKERS reached a historic agreement almost certain to lead to the first reform in decades of the state's branching law, one of the most restrictive in the country.

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FEW SMALL BANKS put much focus on the leasing business, but Chuck Ledford of Park Meridian Bank in Charlotte, N.C., says the holdouts are making a mistake. "Leasing is the wave of the future," he says. Page 6

MORTGAGES:

CHEMICAL has tapped its consumer lending chief, Thomas Jacob, to ride herd over the massive mortgage business that will result from the bank's merger with Chase. Page 9

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:

INDEPENDENT SERVICE organizations, which some fly-by-night operators gave a bad name, have made a comeback in the card processing business.

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TECHNOLOGY:

THOUGH MANY large banks have gotten out of processing for other financial institutions, Philadelphia-based CoreStates has expanded in the business. Page 14

FIRST NATIONAL Bank of Chicago is revamping its financial reporting operations through a seven-year technology services agreement with Computer Sciences Corp. Page 15

FINANCE:

IN A FUNDAMENTAL change, investors and analysts are beginning to look at banks as growth stocks rather than cyclicals. Back page

SOUTHTRUST plans to issue three-and-a-half million shares next month in what would be the first issue of new stock by a major bank in over a year. Page 22

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