Financial Corp. Isn’t Worth So Much Time, Money, S&L; Executives Tell Regulators

SAN FRANCISCO — Savings and loan executives across the nation are worried that federal regulators are spending too much time and money trying to sell off ailing Financial Corp. of America in Irvine.

“I feel (industry) pressure both inside and outside of California not to spend too much of our resources on FCA,” M. Danny Wall, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, said during an industry convention here.

Meanwhile, First Nationwide Bank, a San Francisco-based savings and loan, would like to reach an agreement with the bank board by the end of the month to buy at least part of the Irvine-based company, said Anthony M. Frank, the savings and loan’s chairman.

First Nationwide and its parent, Ford Motor Co., have been negotiating with the bank board to buy FCA and will continue negotiating next year, even if no deal is reached this month, Frank said.

FCA is the parent company of American Savings & Loan in Stockton, the nation’s largest savings and loan, with $34 billion in assets. The company needs $900 million in new capital.

Wall would not discuss the bank board’s talks with First Nationwide, except to repeat past statements that he hoped a deal could be reached soon.

Wall also would not elaborate on the pressure he’s been under from within the industry but said his response to critics is to continue with what his office has been doing.

“We’re trying to deal with FCA and Texas thrifts and troubled thrifts elsewhere as expeditiously as we can, while still being the best steward of those thrifts,” he said.

He said the final resolution for FCA could involve such bank board assistance as promissory notes instead of, or in combination with, an outlay of cash. He said the bank board is concerned with providing too much cash, which could impair the functions of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., the depositor insurance arm of the bank board.