Today's News

WASHINGTON DECLARING CREDIT unions a threat to the health of community banks, ABA officials laid out a three-pronged strategy to beat back their tax-exempt competitors. Page 2 REP. JOSEPH KENNEDY plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit credit card companies from charging annual fees for consumers who regularly pay off balances. Page 2 CONGRESS DID some housecleaning in the law enacted last week, adopting a slew of provisions that streamline bank and thrift operations. "There is a lot of valuable cleanup in this legislation," said Karen Shaw Petrou, president of the consulting firm ISD/Shaw. One of the most significant provisions makes more banks eligible for less frequent examinations. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING REGULATORS say "phantom banks" are the bane of law enforcement agencies and investigative units at legitimate banks, perpetrating frauds that range from thousands to millions of dollars. Page 4 COMMUNITY BANKING BOLSTERING its already strong position in Connecticut, Webster Financial is gobbling up DS Bancor, one of the state's few remaining large community banks. Page 6 SHAREHOLDERS of Mayflower Co-Operative voted down a proposal to form a bank holding company for the Middleboro, Mass., thrift. Page 6 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS MUTUAL FUND companies are hawking to investors and bank brokerages portfolios that invest at least 65% of their holdings in a single state or region. Page 7 LEHMAN BROTHERS snared a salesman from Goldman Sachs in an effort to develop its private-client business in Florida. Page 7 MORTGAGES LENDERS SAY 1996 may be the year the Lansing, Mich., housing market starts to mirror that of other metropolitan areas in the state - driven mainly by growth in the suburbs. Page 8 AIDA ALVAREZ, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, discusses her role in keeping tabs on risk-based capital standards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Page 9 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs ADVANTA formed a subsidiary to pursue nonfinancial consumer services and hired a prominent outsider to head it. Page 10 KNUTSON MORTGAGE teamed up with First USA to market a credit card to homeowners and homebuyers. Page 10 TECHNOLOGY REPRESENTATIVES of the G20 banking consortium are developing plans for a clearing organization that would reduce the risk in foreign-exchange transactions. Page 12 DIRECTORS of Swift, the international banking communications network, approved in principle a project to develop, with the Through Transport Club, an electronic system for trade finance. Page 12 FINANCE NEXTWAVE TELECOMM, the biggest winner in a government auction of licenses for wireless phone systems, is having a difficult time winning financing. Page 17

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