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
).
