Today's News

WASHINGTON

Opposition by state legislators to the increasing power of Washington over insurance sales may be stronger in theory than in practice. Page 2

REGIONAL BANKING

Scott A. Kisting, passed over for the No. 2 job at Norwest, has landed on his feet. He'll be second-in-command at Citizens Financial in Rhode Island. Page 7

COMMUNITY BANKING

The collapse of a buyout deal in South Florida is proving beneficial to a third party. Page 9

MORTGAGES

Lenders figure to be among those benefiting most from the new tax law as citizens scramble to unlock the billions they have invested in their homes. Page 12

With sharp gains in volume and net income, two high-profile lenders showed that subprime was the place to be in the first half, allaying concerns that arose when another large player reported disappointing results. Page 13

WEEKLY REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS

Contrary to popular belief, owners of businesses with only $500,000 in sales and fewer than 10 employees can be very profitable bank customers, a survey found. Page 10

For five years a determined Massachusetts executive has been pushing an unpopular idea on his fellow community bankers-paying interest on small- business deposits. Page 10

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Variable annuity wholesalers are scrambling to sign up banks in Puerto Rico following a decision by the commonwealth's insurance commissioner. Page 14

TECHNOLOGY

Intelidata has some explaining to do. Investors want to know why the provider of telecommunications services and electronic commerce software did not warn them of a big second-quarter loss. Page 22

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

Simon DeBartolo Group, the largest developer of shopping malls, endorsed Visa as its preferred payment method and is stocking its properties with advanced ATMs. Page 24

CORPORATE FINANCE

Chase and Merrill Lynch plan to market a $900 million loan backing Thomas H. Lee Co.'s $1 billion buyout of Fisher Scientific. Page 16

MARKET MONITOR

Was the cautious Fed chairman really all that exuberant in recent testimony to Congress? Several economists said they think he actually issued important warnings about business conditions. Page 33

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