Today's News.(table of contents)(Brief Article)

COMMUNITY/REGIONAL

DOGGED BY TROUBLES in its loan securitization portfolio, a California community bank is expected to report a full-year loss. Page 6

A PENNSYLVANIA BANKING company has sold the controlling interest in an Internet banking referral site on which it began working just three months ago. Page 6

AIMING TO BECOME a health-care financing powerhouse in its home state, Commerce of New Jersey has hired four lenders away from rival Summit. Page 6 MORTGAGES

INTEREST IS GROWING in getting the IRS directly involved in mortgage loan as lenders work to automate the loan approval process. Page 7 WASHINGTON

"DEAD BANK WALKING" is the title of a memoir by a former bank chief who blames himself for unleashing Charles H. Keating on the financial world. Page 2

CONGRESSIONAL aide Jeanne Roslanowick knows banking law as well as anyone, and if the Democrats retake control of the House in 2000, she is poised to wield significant power as the Banking Committee's staff director. She works for Rep. John J. LaFalce, who has high praise for her judgment. Page 3 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

MUTUAL FUNDS that cater to Islamic investors have proven popular in Europe and the Middle East, and could be poised for success in the United States. Page 8

CAPE COD BANK agreed to buy a majority stake in a local insurance agency, its first such deal. Page 8 CARDS

A COMMUNITY BANK in Chicago is trying to turn ATM surcharging into a good deed, sharing the fees in a holiday charity drive. Page 9 TECHNOLOGY

CHECKFREE SAID its planned purchase of BlueGill Technologies would have a negative impact on earnings in the short term. Page 10

A START-UP that enables bankers and securities traders to buy and sell pools of funded loans on the Internet plans to raise $15 million in a private placement deal, sources said. Page 10 MARKET MONITOR

J.P. MORGAN has a mandate from Slovakia to privatize that country's two biggest banks. The agreement builds on strides Morgan is making in global M&A activities. Page17

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