WASHINGTON
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Rep. Doug Bereuter is crafting a truce between banks and thrifts on the Savings Association Insurance Fund. Page 2
REGIONAL BANKING
James Stutz, president of California's Fidelity Federal Bank, says fighting through the financial woes of the past three years was more draining than being held up three times as a fledgling teller. Page 4
A guilty plea by the man who used a false identity to get a multimillion-dollar loan from Signet Banking Corp. doesn't repair the bank's reputation, analysts say. Page 4
COMMUNITY BANKING
A Long Island banking company is buying stock in a Queens thrift as the bank seeks to expand further into the Big Apple. Page 6
Small banks will survive because they supply personal service, but many of their products will be automated and standardized, writes Paul Nadler. Page 7
MORTGAGES
Banks are bristling at a rule published today that will require them to rethink the way they compensate employees for referring business to their mortgage subsidiaries. "The whole thing is unneccessary and useless," says Washington attorney Sue Johnson. "It's yet another layer of government regulation that will require a lot of expensive lawyers." Page 8
First-quarter home loan originations rose in all 11 states for which TRW Redi Property Data has data. Page 8
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
The Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the way for underwriters of variable annuities to try out simplified prospectuses. Page 10
Marketing executive William Kearns is trying again to make the hub and spoke structure work through banks, this time at Boston-based Standish, Ayer & Wood. Page 10
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs
Europay International announced a multinational, multicurrency smart card system, claiming a lead in the race against other chip card promoters. Page 13
TECHNOLOGY
J.P. Morgan stock analyst Michael Freudenstein has begun rating the World Wide Web sites of financial services companies he follows on a "stuff/fluff" index. Page 14
Nearly one-third of U.S. small businesses in a survey think the Internet has played some role in their success. Page 16
FINANCE
Hostilities between U.S. futures exchanges and banks that offer privately negotiated derivatives contracts burst into the open at a congressional hearing. Page 22
Citicorp lost ground after Salomon Brothers analyst Diane Glossman downgraded the stock to "buy" from "strong buy." Back page
