21.   A Bundesbank rate cut could dampen demand for marks by making German bank deposits less attractive.

22.   A German bank is preparing to raise an earlier offer for the fixed-line business of British Telecommunications, people close to the discussions said Sunday.

23.   A large German bank is in talks to buy Wessex Water from the Enron Corp., people close to the discussions said on Sunday.

24.   A mortgage bank is also planned, the German banks said.

25.   After an acquisition binge, German banks are cutting jobs to improve profits.

26.   After years of prospering by looking inward, German banks find they must now think in European and global terms.

27.   All major German banks are maintaining representatives offices and have applied for full banking licenses in Russia.

28.   Both German banks have denied any illegal activity.

29.   Burkardt said she holds all the German banks in her funds.

30.   But German banks have failed at repeated attempts to merge with one another, and shareholders have been skeptical about the benefits to be found in such deals.