Today's News

WASHINGTON Washington Mutual revised its $75 billion CRA pledge to satisfy activists who threatened to protest its plan to buy Great Western. Page 2 An FDIC plan to penalize thrifts that illegally shift deposits to affiliated banks is not needed now that thrift and bank premiums have been equalized, industry leaders told the agency. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING Chase's CEO is cool to the idea of buying a regional investment bank, as Bankers Trust is doing. Page 5 TECHNOLOGY UNCLE SAM's electronic payments mandate helped boost attendance at the National Automated Clearing House Association conference. Page 8 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs PROCESSORS that can use pooling-of-interest accounting for acquisitions have an edge. Page 14 MARKET MONITOR Bank of New York said it will acquire Boatmen's corporate trust business from NationsBank. Page 22 COMMUNITY BANKING H. Jerry Shearer, the dissident investor who has been pushing South Carolina's third-largest thrift to find a buyer, will have to wait awhile. Shareholders of Palfed Inc. voted Tuesday, but the thrift said a final tally on the nonbinding vote won't be ready until next week. Page 13 MORTGAGES Subprime mortgage companies are again reporting record earnings, raising hopes their stocks will see a turnaround. Page 9 Fannie Mae, looking to attract more individual investors, has redesigned its annual report to present itself more effectively to this audience. Page 9 HomeSide snared another Fleet executive. Philip G. Laren will report to HomeSide's CFO, also a defector from Fleet, and implement strategies to manage risk associated with balance sheet assets. Page 9 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS American Express' American Enterprise Life Insurance is hiring more customer service and sales reps as well as upgrading annuity products and adding life insurance policies. Page 11 CORPORATE FINANCE Technology is one of several sectors back in favor with lenders, a survey found. On the outs: retail. Page 12 BT Securities assembled $220 million of financing for Public Storage using an off-balance-sheet structure that could become more popular as real estate investment trusts step up development activity. Page 12