Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING Bank of New York's chairman said it will continue to build its securities processing business through acquisition. Page 4 A Deal to buy First Financial would more than double the size of Wisconsin's Associated Banc-Corp. Page 4 COMMUNITY BANKING Texas banks' rise from the depths of the oil and gas bust a decade ago shows no sign of cresting. Page 6 MORTGAGES To lend profitably to customers with high debt loads and poor credit, you must keep the reins tight, say executives at First Alliance. Page 8 The incoming vice chairman of Fannie Mae, Jamie S. Gorelick, hopes to help weave the nation together through homeownership initiatives. Page 9 CORPORATE FINANCE Citicorp hired a former NationsBank managing director to head emerging- markets loan trading and establish a Mexican trading desk in New York. Page 10 WASHINGTON Aida Alvarez, the SBA administrator, told a Senate panel that the Small Business Administration's new cap on its flagship guaranteed loan program backfired. "We have experienced a run on the bank," she said. "Even with the cap, we now face a situation where the resources available for the rest of the year are probably not sufficient." Page 2 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS Banks need to limit broker turnover within their investment programs to better manage customer expectations, the CEO of OppenheimerFunds said. Page 11 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs Cartel, the Buffalo-based transaction processing network that is mounting a challenge to national and regional funds transfer systems, won a key endorsement. Page 12 TECHNOLOGY ON-LINE BANKING: The Online Banking Association plans to unveil a system next week that brings Internet surfing to televisions and lets consumers use smart cards for on-line commerce. Page 14 As data warehouses gain in popularity, financial institutions are typically taking one of two approaches to installing them. BankBoston is taking a middle road. Page 15 MARKET MONITOR Capital One Financial's stock was hammered after the credit card issuer disclosed that earnings would fall short of analysts' estimates for the second quarter. Back page