Today's News

WASHINGTON

To prove cyber thefts are rare, the American Bankers Association is planning a voluntary system for banks to report computer break-ins.

THE Treasury Secretary outlined the Clinton administration's financial reform plan for industry lobbyists that he will present next week.

REGIONAL BANKING

BankAmerica's chairman and CEO said he anticipates combinations between large banks and technology companies-if legislation allows them.

COMMUNITY BANKING

The fight for bragging rights over the best incorporation laws is on-and longtime champ Delaware has some competition.

CORPORATE FINANCE

Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch won the auction for Nippon Credit's $2.2 billion syndicated loan portfolio.

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

James Eads, brokerage chief at Signet Banking Corp., resigned Tuesday - reportedly because the bank is de-emphasizing the investment business. But a spokeswoman would not say whether Virginia-based Signet is making such a change.

executives Discuss the lessons banks have gleaned from three years of legal challenges to their brokerage sales practices.

MORTGAGES

Firstplus Financial Group, a fast-growing home-improvement lender, said it plans to offer loans through kiosks in hardware stores.

GE Capital Mortgage Insurance is developing its mortgage scoring system in the hopes that lenders will be able to use it beyond loan originations.

TECHNOLOGY

Specialized remittance processing companies are benefiting from growth in electronic bill payments.

At Microsoft's Scalability Day, chairman Bill Gates touted the increased scale and strength of the personal computer.

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

First USA and Dean Witter, Discover launched a series of affinity cards to support cultural and arts organizations.

CARD FRONTIERS: Some conference organizers pride themselves on their educational missions and senses of history, but those of Cardtech/Securtech may have set a new standard.

MARKET MONITOR

Securitization, one of the hottest games on Wall Street, may be coming to the world of sports.