91.   Smaller merchant banks and other non-bank financial institutions will be exempt from the new loans, he said.

92.   Some analysts expect the rule to lead to a new round of mergers involving smaller banks and regional brokerage firms.

93.   Some First Interstate customers are wary of seeing their accounts swallowed up by the San Francisco-based bank and smaller banks are setting their eyes on those accounts.

94.   Some of the best buys are among smaller banks, such as Union Planters Corp. based in the rapidly growing Memphis, Tennessee market.

95.   Smaller banks are lesser-known entities on overseas money markets and thus perceived as greater risks.

96.   Smaller banks can offer the personal touch and access to what Galloway called the major decision makers.

97.   Smaller banks initially opposed the interstate banking bill.

98.   Smaller banks, those that rely heavily on traditional deposit-taking and lending, face tough sledding this year.

99.   Smaller banks, with less sophisticated technology, were more likely to take longer to give customers credit, Visa said.