Their loss would be the public's gain, as competition from commercial banks would push down the stiff fees charged for underwriting bonds and other securities.

He supported the Bush Administration's view that laws should be changed so that commercial banks could enter new lines of business from which they are now barred like underwriting bonds and trading stock.

Wall Street firms have also sent top New York bankers and traders to London to oversee the new business of underwriting bonds denominated in euros.

The lawyers said they had already contacted more than 10 major investment-banking houses about their interest in underwriting bonds.

Ronald S. Borod, whose Boston firm represented Massachusetts and other states, said the lawyers decided at a meeting in Washington several weeks ago to approach investment banking houses about underwriting bonds.

Deutsche Bank A.G. teamed up today with Sakura Bank Ltd. of Japan in an effort to take advantage of Japan's liberalized market for underwriting bond and stock offerings.

Interpreting a loophole, the Federal Reserve has gradually let banks expand, first underwriting bonds then stocks.

Goldman has long had a banking relationship with PG&E, underwriting bonds for the company for years.

That is why it is crucial for American financial institutions to refrain from underwriting bonds for Chinese entities, like the State Development Bank, that finance construction of the dam.

The merchant-banking families dealt in everything from underwriting bonds to originating foreign loans.