Today's News

BANK DERIVATIVES dealers are finding that the generic risk-disclosure forms provided by securities and futures regulators may not meet banking regulators' requirements.

Back page BANK STOCKS RALLIED for the second day in a row, halting a two-week slide sparked by fears about declining credit quality. Back page INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: FLEET'S GALAXY FUNDS have been selling like hotcakes since the announcement that sales loads would be imposed Nov. 10.

Page 11 RELATIONSHIPS are nice, but what fund customers really want is return on investment, an Andersen study concludes. Clients' reactions have ranged "from impressed to annoyed," a partner said. Page 10 WASHINGTON: FEDERAL REGULATORS agreed this week to stop requiring banks to use one set of accounting standards for call reports and another for annual reports. Page 2 THE PRESIDENT of the Oklahoma Bankers Association led trade group representatives from 35 states to Washington this week to demand that Congress back off. Page 4 REGIONAL BANKING: HOME SAVINGS of America has hired a top Banc One retail executive to revitalize consumer operations. Page 6 U.S. BANCORP and merger partner West One boosted profits in the third quarter, as did three major Japanese-owned California banks and the two biggest in Salt Lake City. But results in Hawaii were mixed. Page 5 COMMUNITY BANKING: RECENTLY CONVERTED thrifts in slow loan-growth areas could take a page from GFS Bancorp's book: When business can't be found at home, hit the road. Page 7 EXECUTIVES at the nation's small federal mutuals are worrying more about their future as Congress wrangles over a merger of the bank and thrift charters.

Page 7 TECHNOLOGY: SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has devised a program to help banks streamline low- value, cross-border payments.

Page 25 MORTGAGES: A HIGHLY PROFITABLE but low-profile segment of the housing industry - manufactured homes - has been ignored by all but a few mortgage bankers. But that may soon be changing. Page 12 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: CITGO PETROLEUM and Ford's Associates National Bank have structured a unique but complicated credit card rebate program that may be confusing and costly for consumers. Page 23 AMERICAN HERITAGE BankCard, the nation's 14th-largest merchant processor, has hired Cybercash to provide encryption technology to its 100 member banks and their clients. Page 23