Today's News

MORTGAGES

Plagued by allegations of political favoritism and other abuses, HUD is planning an enforcement division to be headed by an FBI agent.

The five publicly traded mortgage insurance companies have all outperformed the market recently, but Triad Guaranty is getting the most attention.

COMMUNITY BANKING

Ramon Rodriguez refused to sell his Dallas home to Overton Bank and Trust. Now it won't be long before his house is hemmed in by a U-shaped bank branch, but nobody's angry.

A slate of baby boomers has replaced the octogenarian directors who founded and ran Salt Lake City's Draper Bancorp for more than 30 years.

MARKET MONITOR

TO REDEEM themselves with the financial community, subprime auto lenders may have to stop booking profits before their loans are collected.

New accounting rules could cause more financial headaches for subprime auto lenders, by forcing them to restate how much it costs to collect loans.

REGIONAL BANKING

STRIKING STEELWORKERS called for a boycott of Mellon, to make it bring Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel to the bargaining table. Picketing last month wasn't enough to budge Mellon CEO Frank V. Cahouet. The bank is a big shareholder in the steel company's parent.

credit/debit/atms

DIGITAL SIGNATURES, an emerging requirement in the world of electronic commerce, raise new risk issues for bankers, writes Thomas Vartanian.

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

After a brief hiatus, consolidation is once again ripping through the mutual fund business. And this time, banks are expected to participate in the trend.

W. Christopher Maxwell has quit KeyCorp's mutual fund business after four years to start his own business, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

INSURANCE: Independent Financial Marketing Group, the third-largest distributor of investment products through banks, is venturing outside the bank channel for the first time.

TECHNOLOGY

Edify added "push" capabilities to its Internet banking software. Now the program will deliver personalized news, reminders, bookmarks, and targeted cross-selling messages as well as interactive banking.

The Financial Services Technology Consortium is planning a pilot to demonstrate how corporations can use the Internet to get access to existing payment systems.

KeyCorp will provide car loans over the Internet in a deal with Auto-By- Tel Acceptance, which operates a Web site for car shoppers.

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