FRANKFURT — Deutsche Bank AG has reached agreement in principle to acquire Bankers Trust Corp. for approximately $9.7 billion in cash, people familiar with the talks said, in what would be the largest cross-border banking transaction ever and would create a financial institution with more than $830 billion in assets.

The deal, expected to be announced as early as Monday, would give Deutsche Bank a substantially expanded U.S. presence, particularly in fixed-income trading, derivatives and emerging markets — areas where Bankers Trust has long been a leader despite the lingering reputational damage from the 1994 Procter & Gamble derivatives litigation.

America Online Inc. confirmed late Friday that it is in advanced discussions to acquire Netscape Communications Corp. in a stock transaction that could be valued at more than $4 billion, with Sun Microsystems Inc. expected to take over Netscape's enterprise software business as part of a parallel arrangement. The combination would mark a dramatic chapter in the browser wars and intensify pressure on Microsoft Corp. as the federal antitrust trial enters its sixth week in Washington.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan signaled in remarks before the Securities Industry Association on Friday that the central bank is unlikely to lower the federal funds rate at its December 22 meeting, citing improving credit market conditions and the continued recovery in the equity markets following the autumn turmoil triggered by the Long-Term Capital Management collapse.

Crude oil futures climbed for a third consecutive session on the New York Mercantile Exchange as renewed tensions between Baghdad and the United Nations Special Commission raised the possibility of disruptions to Persian Gulf supply, even as OPEC ministers prepare for a contentious quota meeting in Vienna later this week.

Boeing Co. notified employees that the previously announced workforce reduction will reach 48,000 positions through the end of 2000, deepening the painful response to a downturn in commercial airplane orders driven by the Asian economic crisis and lingering production inefficiencies at the Renton and Everett plants.