Today's News

WASHINGTON

The FDIC chairman is worth between $1 million and $2.4 million, according to her financial disclosure report. Page 2

REGIONAL

Mellon, which this spring fended off a hostile bid by Bank of New York, is leading a crusade to toughen Pennsylvania's anti-takeover statutes. Page 6

BankAmerica is renewing its effort to build a consumer banking business in Mexico as the economy strengthens there. Page 7

COMMUNITY

Michigan's top banking regulator is planning to kick off a campaign to teach local governments to do their homework before depositing funds in small banks. Page 8

Year-2000 problems at smaller U.S. banks could lead to a "tremendous increase" in acquisitions during the latter half of 1999, Gartner Group's year-2000 research director said. Page 8

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

INSURANCE: With variable annuities sluggish and fixed annuities slumping, overall bank sales of these retirement products fell in the first quarter. Page 11

The blistering M&A pace in both the insurance underwriting and brokerage businesses shows little sign of slowing, a study suggests. Page 12

MORTGAGES

The trend toward megamergers is spawning novel corporate structures in banks' home finance divisions. Page 13

Freddie Mac is maneuvering to attract a greater share of international investors by offering the first euro-denominated discount note program by a secondary mortgage market agency. Page 14

CARDS

Visa International and two major European electronic purse operators announced an agreement to make their systems compatible. Page 16

DIGITAL FRONTIERS

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: Hoping to win converts to a new form of on-line payment, a group of electronic commerce consultants has left Dove Associates to create a software company. Page 17

United Parcel Service is upping the ante on next-day mail deliveries, with an Internet service that can deliver documents in as little as six seconds. Page 17

TECHNOLOGY

A group of influential banks in the United States and the United Kingdom has agreed to abide by a set of recommendations meant to reduce settlement risk associated with foreign exchange. Page 18

Digital Equipment is leading a consortium that launched a facility to help banks manage customer relationships. Page 18

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