Today's News

WASHINGTON

To reduce industry paperwork, banking regulators have proposed a uniform application for bank mergers that require approval from more than one agency. Page 2

The Clinton administration plans to ask Congress to significantly increase spending on enforcement of the fair-housing laws. Page 3

CORPORATE FINANCE

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette is expected to finance its merchant bank's acquisition of Thermadyne Holdings with a combination of bank debt, high- yield bonds, and equity that it plans to lead manage. Page 7

MORTGAGES

Strong fourth-quarter results have prompted a raft of adjustments in analysts' earnings projections for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Page 8

Lenders are continuing to pay high premiums for servicing portfolios, despite the increase in refinance activity in the last few weeks, servicing brokers say. Page 8

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Strong Capital Management of Milwaukee represents a good buying opportunity for banks still looking to gain a presence in asset management, according to industry observers. Page 9

The former president and chief investment officer of Barnett Capital Advisors is starting her own investment management firm. Page 9

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

American Express' two-year-old Delta Sky Miles Optima credit card has surpassed Citibank's American Airlines AAdvantage card in customers, a survey found. Page 11

ANALYST ROUNDTABLE

Banks are facing plenty of issues besides Asia and interest rate spreads, according market watchers at this quarter's American Banker bank analysts roundtable. Roundtable newcomer David Berry, research director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, sees consolidation happening at institutions of all sizes. Page 12

TECHNOLOGY

RSA Data Security, the company that effectively sets standards for the encryption that protects electronic money and sensitive messages, may be doing the same for the convention business. Page 14

MARKET MONITOR

Subprime and second mortgages took off in 1997, passing credit card securitizations for the first time and propelling the overall asset-backed market to its highest issuance ever. Page 22

Bank stocks slipped another notch amid investment rating cuts by analysts for several high-profile banks. Back page

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