Two banks put Argentine loans on non-accrual.

The move by Republic New York Corp. and Dallas-based Republicbank Corp. to place nearly all of their Argentine loans on non-accrual status could signal similar moves by other major banks, which could lead to lower earnings. Under non-accrual status, the banks may count toward earnings only interest payments actually received in cash. Most big banks still count interest on many of their Argentine loans even though the interest has not yet been fully paid.