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Interstate banking marks time while judges explore the merits
By Ruth WalkerStaff writer of The Christian Science Monitor /
June 25, 1984  Southeastern states have taken several long
strides over the past several weeks toward making regional
interstate banking a reality. But as they have done so, it has
been with one eye on the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New
York.  Skip to next paragraph  A case before that court will
determine the constitutionality of the regional interstate
banking concept. ''And the shoe may drop any day,'' as one
lawyer puts it.  At issue is whether regional interstate banking
is an unconstitutional restraint of interstate commerce - if
states, once they decide to open their doors to out-of-state
banks, can pick and choose which states to let in. ''Basically
they're trying to avoid dealing with money center banks,''
especially New York banks, says one observer.  Banks in this
country are now limited - in theory at least -