21.   Keenan said banks are generally focusing on Asia right now, as Japanese banks cut their lending.

22.   Later this year, the bank may cut costs in its check-processing unit by hiring an outside vendor.

23.   Korean banks are cutting staff to improve their efficiency in the face of foreign competition.

24.   Local banks then cut lending rates.

25.   Major Japanese banks cut interest rates on savings accounts to their lowest level ever, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported.

26.   Marc J. Shapiro, vice chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase, said the bank had cut its Argentine exposure.

27.   McColl said the acquisition will add to overall profits by next year, as the bank cuts costs by firing workers and combining overlapping processing systems.

28.   Other major banks also cut rates.

29.   Several banks cut lending rates while stocks and bonds had little reaction to the cut.

30.   So far this year, the bank has cut an average quarter point off the rate every other week.