Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING

CAREER TRACKS: A recent survey of 150 outplaced securities executives found that they love their jobs-even when they're out of work. Page 7

An SBA loan program is disproportionately benefiting companies in affluent suburbs while bypassing lowincome neighborhoods, according to a Chicagobased activist group. Page 7

COMMUNITY BANKING

Small banks in several midwestern states have been bombarded with resumes and queries from bank lenders worried about the future of their jobs at superregional banks. Page 8

Bryn Mawr Bank Corp on Philadelphia's famous-and wealthy-Main Line has established a subsidiary to answer customers' tax questions. Page 8

WASHINGTON

Rep. Jim Leach is wooing small banks in behalf of the House Banking Committee's modernization bill. The IBAA opposes the measure, which would let banks merge with securities and insurance firms. Page 4

Richard Spillenkothen, the Fed's director of supervision, is zeroing in on the secondary markets. In a supervisory letter he warns that buying syndications, par-ticipations, and credit derivatives without having a comprehensive risk management system "may constitute an unsafe and unsound banking practice." Page 4

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

INSURANCE: Wachovia Corp. is plunging into the life, disability, and long-term care insurance markets, and it's doing so in an unusual way- through 10 carriers. Page 9

Grupo Santander, Spain's largest bank, is looking to build up its global asset management business by moving into the United States and the United Kingdom. Page 10

credit/debit/atms

Citibank's electronic benefits transfer juggernaut hit a snag in Kentucky when its attorney general's office found grounds to disqualify the New York bank. Page 12

Most people don't use credit cards to pay rent, phone, or gas bills. But Visa and MasterCard have been campaigning for payment of recurring household bills with plastic. Page 12

MORTGAGES

Some observers see an accident waiting to happen in the data on high loan-to-value home equity loans, particularly when the economy sours. Page 16

TECHNOLOGY

Though more banks are turning to outside sources for supplementary data about their customers, they have a lot to learn about using it effectively. Page 19

Motorola is creating frame relay technology that lets video images travel on the same networks as data. Page 20

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