THRIFT WILL OPEN 2 BANKS : U.S. REGULATORS OK GREAT WESTERN PLAN.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Great Western Financial Corp., the Chatsworth-based parent of the savings and loan savings and loan n. a banking and lending institution, chartered either by a state or the Federal government. Savings and loans only make loans secured by real property from deposits, upon which they pay interest slightly higher than that paid by most banks. , got the green light Friday from federal regulators to open two commercial banks, in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. and Lake Worth, Fla. After 16 months of waiting, Great Western Bank became the second thrift in the country to get national banking charter approval from the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (or OCC) was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. . It still is awaiting a nod from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent U.S. federal executive agency designed to promote public confidence in banks and to provide insurance coverage for bank deposits up to $100,000. and the Federal Reserve Board. By doing so, the thrift hopes to lower its deposit insurance premiums. ``Great Western has been transforming itself into an increasingly banklike institution in the better part of the last decade,'' said spokesman Tim McGarry. ``This represents an intensification of that.'' The new banks will operate inside existing Great Western locations, but will have signs identifying them as different institutions. The company has not yet decided on the name of the new banks. They are expected to be open by year's end. Historically, savings banks mainly offered home loans, while commercial banks handled business lending. Since deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. in the 1980s, the distinction has blurred. Great Western sought national bank charters to lower its deposit insurance payments, which amount to $75 million a year. Most savings institutions belong to the Savings Association Insurance Fund Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) A government organization that replaced the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation as the provider of deposit insurance for thrift institutions. . They pay 23 cents to insure every $100 of deposits. As a commercial bank, the payments could decrease to $2,000 or more a year. |
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