For more than a decade Congress has debated whether to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which bans banks from underwriting stocks.

Although the separation of banks and brokerages has eroded in recent years with deregulation in vogue, banks are still barred from underwriting stocks.

In 1990 the Board approved J.P. Morgan & Co. underwriting corporate stock.

Securities firms generally earn significantly bigger fees for underwriting stocks than debt.

Most of the overlap between the two companies would be in investment banking functions, like underwriting stocks and bonds and trading currencies.

Fees for underwriting stock and bond offerings dropped sharply last year on Wall Street.

And investment-banking revenue fell 56 percent, to $228 million, as the climate for underwriting stocks and bonds remained unfriendly, if not hostile.

However, the business of underwriting stocks and bonds climbed about 24.7 percent in 2001, buoyed in part by a raft of interest rate cuts.

Meanwhile, such fee-generating activities as money management, underwriting stocks and bonds, and selling annuities are exploding.

However, the business of underwriting stocks and bonds climbed about 24.7 percent.