Today's News

WASHINGTON

FED VICE Chairman Alice M. Rivlin said Wednesday that regulators are under increasing pressure to keep the financial services industry healthy as economies around the world grow more interdependent. "We can't afford policy errors because the spillover effects on other countries are too great," she told the Institute of International Bankers. Page 2

GOP LEADERS launched a last-ditch effort to enact a Savings Association Insurance Fund rescue this year. Page 2

BANKERS DISAGREE on the best way for the FDIC to treat the sale of deposits by institutions that pay premiums to both the bank and savings association insurance funds. Page 3

REGIONAL BANKING

FIRST COMMERCE, a company with a history of reporting negative surprises, raised questions on Wall Street with its decision to dramatically boost reserve levels. Page 4

WACHOVIA has agreed to provide cash management services to commercial customers of Wells Fargo to generate income from one of its core business lines. Page 4

COMMUNITY BANKING

THE OUSTED general manager of a prominent ethnic credit union in Brooklyn now wants to be a director. Page 6

VERMONT'S fast-growing Chittenden has parted ways with its chief financial officer after 14 years. Page 6

MORTGAGES

COUNTRYWIDE Credit reported that its second-quarter earnings per share grew 22%, but loan production showed signs of slowing. Page 9

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

RESPONDING to criticism that it isn't committed to marketing its funds through banks, Fidelity Investments has set up a bank services group. Page 10

STATE STREET seeks to make marketing hay out of an unusual rating that one of its bond funds received from Standard & Poor's. Page 10

A PRINCETON BANK has gotten help from the Justice Department in its legal battle against the state of Florida. Page 11

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

MASTERCARD will move in March to a lower interchange fee in its purchasing card program. Page 12

CITICORP has notified some gold and classic card customers that their interest rates had been cut in recognition of their good credit behavior. Page 12

TECHNOLOGY

ON-LINE BANKING: For banks and merchants setting up sites on the World Wide Web, authenticating claims can be difficult. Two companies have begun certifying businesses by granting them "seals of approval" on the Web. Page 14

THREE BANKS plan to offer home-banking programs from Home Financial Network. Page 14

FINANCE

BANK OF BOSTON, anticipating Fed approval of its application for securities underwriting powers, has begun assembling a junk bond group. Back page

FIFTH THIRD shares gained ground in a sluggish market on news that it could generate an additional $200 million to shareholders over the next three years. Back page

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