Banking

Members of the House and Senate submit bills that would make it easier for small businesses, including community banks, to incorporate under subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code. Under it, shareholders—but not the company—pay tax on the entity’s income, unlike C corporations, which are taxed at both levels. Proponents say passage of the bills would greatly improve smaller banks’ competitiveness ( www.aba.com/Press+Room/reform072001.htm ).

Automated underwriting systems at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) get a common data format, as the two agencies adopt extensible markup language (XML) data specifications ( www.mbaa.org/news/2001/pr0723a.html ).