BANKING & FINANCE - Feb. 27, 1993

First Union to Buy Bank Linked to BCCI: First Union Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., said it will buy First American Metro Corp. of McLean, Va., in a $453-million cash deal. The acquisition of First American will add 174 banks and $4 billion in deposits to First Union’s operations, making it the eighth-largest bank holding company in the United States, First Union said. Federal authorities have charged that First American, owned by First American Bankshares Inc., was secretly owned by the defunct Bank of Credit & Commerce International since 1982. BCCI’s worldwide operations were closed in 1991 amid allegations of widespread fraud.