Today's News

WASHINGTON

The seven-year legal battle over AT&T Family's expansion is now pending an appeal of its violation of the federal law requiring members of a credit union to share a common bond. Page 2

Comptroller Eugene A. Ludwig, issuing a warning to national banks, said the industry's obsession with cost cutting is jeopardizing its ability to manage risk. Page 3

REGIONAL BANKING

Small and midsize Northeast regional banks reported solid third-quarter earnings, largely driven by active share repurchases and tight control of expenses. Page 6

COMMUNITY BANKING

Many community banks ponder the question: Should the chairman be an employee or an outside director from an unrelated company? Page 8

A New Jersey thrift that's been trying to keep two activist shareholders off its board of directors found a way to keep at least one of them at bay. Page 8

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

CARD FRONTIERS: A smart card alliance of five telephone companies could raise competitive obstacles to banks that want to control electronic cash transactions. Page 10

Command Credit was renamed Dawcin International after its chairman and chief executive was charged in an FBI sting with penny-stock fraud. Page 11

TECHNOLOGY

Citicorp's technology chief says he's wary of Internet commerce because it offers wrongdoers the opportunity to "perpetrate fraud on a massive scale." Page 12

Boatmen's agreed to install an updated Windows-based version of branch automation software developed by Broadway & Seymour for commercial-loan documentation. Page 12

MORTGAGES

A new HUD data base could give the public more insight into the kind of loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac write. Page 16

An economist with the Cleveland Fed says data from the "groundbreaking" study on home lending bias in the Boston area have not been universally accepted. Page 17

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Union Bank of California chose SEI Corp. as administrator and distributor of its newly enlarged proprietary fund family. Page 18

PFF Bank and Trust in Pomona, Calif., tapped Duerr Financial to run its investment products sales program, ending a one-year relationship with another third-party marketing firm. Page 19

FINANCE

Chase Manhattan, NationsBank, BankAmerica, and Bank of Nova Scotia will lead a $4.8 billion loan for CSX Corp.'s acquisition of Conrail. Page 25

Most banks will be squeezed out of existence during the next five to 10 years because they will be unable to afford the technology necessary to keep customers and generate fee-based income, First Union president Anthony P. Terracciano says. "Ease of entry is not the issue in this business - it's ease of continuance," he said. Page 26

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER