Given the mood of the country in the weeks after Sept. 11, it's no surprise really that bankers chose to stay on the sidelines while Congress was debating, then passing, landmark anti-terrorism legislation. Though the USA Patriot Act, signed by President Bush on Oct. 26, includes money-laundering provisions that banks had historically opposed, bankers' general position at the time was that they would do whatever was asked of them to cut off the flow of funds to terrorists.

Still, there's no denying that the new law, once in effect, will add to banks' compliance burden. Moreover, some bankers say the government is already overwhelmed with suspicious-activity reports and is hardly equipped to deal with oceans of new data.

In this issue's cover story, deputy community banking editor John Reosti examines some of the details of the new law and talks to bankers about its implications. What he found out was that compliance is likely to be most difficult for community banks, especially those with many foreign customers.

Few firms were as devastated by the attack on the World Trade Center as the investment banks Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Sandler O'Neill & Partners. The two firms, which occupied space on the upper floors of Tower 2, lost more than 130 employees, mostly in the areas of research and trading.

Nevertheless, KBW and Sandler have soldiered on. Bill Stoneman, a regular contributor to American Banker, visited the two firms recently and reports back on their efforts to rebuild and hang on to their respective positions as the top merger-and-acquisition advisers to community banks.

Elsewhere in this issue: Laura Thompson profiles the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, a nonprofit group that runs an exchange program for bankers in developing countries; Katie Kuehner-Hebert explores the relatively obscure niche of financing lawsuits and learns why most banks steer clear of this line of business; and Miriam Eljas explains how Shell Oil Co., one of the world's largest energy companies, is investing in the nation's inner cities.

We hope you find the articles in this issue useful, and we look forward to your feedback.
Thanks for reading.

Alan Kline, project editor, alan.kline@tfn.com