WASHINGTON
Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato, the Banking Committee chairman, criticized Comptroller Eugene A. Ludwig's decision to let banks enter new businesses through subsidiaries. Page 2
REGIONAL BANKING
A lawyer who allegedly overbilled clients for thousands of hours of work while she was actually vacationing or taking care of personal matters has been indicted on charges of defrauding Harris Bankcorp and some of its corporate trust clients. Page 3
TECHNOLOGY
To turn house-hunting Net surfers into mortgage customers, several community banks have linked their World Wide Web sites to real estate brokers. Page 5
Wells Fargo customers and those of 31 community banks and credit unions will be able to download account information from the Internet using Microsoft's standards for electronic financial connections. Page 5
ON-LINE BANKING: The Banking Industry Technology Secretariat, an offshoot of the Bankers Roundtable, is issuing a small book that begins to spell out how it will go about its mission of preserving bankers' influence over electronic payment systems. Page 6
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
Leaders of bank insurance agencies know they have a different kind of selling job to do. Page 8
The bidding for Great Western Financial's mutual fund complex is winding down, and four companies have emerged as finalists. One of them is Phoenix Duff & Phelps. Page 9
COMMUNITY BANKING
Contrary to popular belief, heavy competition may actually lead to better performance by small banks. At least that appears to be the case in St. Louis. Page 10
Vermont Financial Services Corp. would be within striking distance of market-share leadership in the state after the planned acquisition of another New England bank. Page 10
MORTGAGES
Referrals by real estate agents are pure gold for mortgage lenders, according to a new survey done for Norwest. Page 14
MARKET MONITOR
Merger speculation has boosted shares of the remaining North Carolina. Stock of $5 billion CCB Financial surged Wednesday, even though profit taking sent many bank stocks lower. Page 22
As power companies fight to survive in a competitive market, they are beginning to look to the public asset-backed securitization market for a steady source of cash. Page 22
