Today's News

REGULATORS ADOPTED new exams reducing oversight of healthy state- chartered banks and thrifts. "We wanted to let our examiners know they didn't have to turn over every rock in every bank," said the FDIC's Nicholas J. Ketcha Jr.

REGIONAL BANKING

A customer-profitability strategy is starting to show some results for Wachovia.

COMMUNITY BANKING

The more assets a bank holds, the more fee income it makes, according to a new survey.

MORTGAGES

Banks of all sizes are teaming up with former rivals to take advantage of the high returns in subprime home equity lending.

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

State securities regulators are revising their proposed bank broker- dealer rule to look more like proposed federal regulations.

Trust departments at community banks are contemplating rate increases.

CORPORATE FINANCE

BancBoston Securities' junk bond group has burgeoned.

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

Meridian Enterprises is pressing new patent-infringement charges against six companies that issue cobranded gasoline credit cards.

TECHNOLOGY

ON-LINE BANKING: Intuit and Microsoft have retooled their flagship personal finance software for the Internet.

MARKET MONITOR

Upstate New York banking stocks surged in the latest outbreak of merger fever among investors.

WEEKLY REPORT: INTERNATIONAL

Georgia, the former Soviet republic, has made a dramatic comeback. Now foreign financial companies are looking for opportunities there.

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