July 9, 1991

The collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International may give added impetus to changes in bank supervision that regulators worldwide have talked about for years but have not yet put in place. As more of B.C.C.I.'s operations were closed yesterday around the world, regulators from the central banks of the 10 leading industrial nations met in Basel, Switzerland, and began to assess what changes could be made in the wake of allegations of widespread fraud at the bank.

As profitability in the personal computer field has plummeted, there has been a growing realization at the International Business Machines Corporation that the money and growth in that business will increasingly be found principally at the very bottom of the computer business -- chips -- and at the very top -- operating system software. "We want to be able to control our own destiny," said Jack D. Kuehler, I.B.M.'s president. "There are two fundamental forces and opportunities to be corralled in the PC marketplace: One is the incredible advances of semiconductor technology. The other is the latest developments in system software. We're really working very hard to reconcile these two forces."

In an effort to quickly end a spreading stock market scandal before an economic summit meeting next week, the Japanese Government today announced a series of sanctions against the country's four biggest securities houses and apologized to the international financial community. But the sanctions themselves appeared modest. The most severe one ordered the brokerages to show restraint in conducting business with their largest customers for four days, beginning Wednesday. The action effectively bars the firms from conducting most types of market transactions.

International President Bush is likely to order the lifting or suspension of sanctions against South Africa as soon as the middle of this week, a senior Administration official said. The State Department has concluded that South Africa has met, or is meeting, all five conditions specified in 1986 legislation for lifting the sanctions. [ Page A1. ]

New Tensions in Yugoslavia Despite a compromise delaying its independence, the separatist republic of Slovenia declined to take part in Yugoslavia's Government. Page A8. Germany on Soviet Aid