Savings And Loan

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators proposed yesterday that savings and loan institutions be permitted to convert to state-chartered savings banks.The measure, which has been pushed hard by savings and loan lobbyists, would further blur the lines between different kinds of savings institutions.It was viewed by some experts as another step in an industry consolidation that would inevitably lead to the demise of savings and loan associations.The proposal was made by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Loyola Capital Corp., the holding company for one of Maryland's largest thrifts, is getting a more streamlined look as it installs redesigned signs at its 34 branches. The new signs cost a total of $500,000 to $750,000, said William A. Wycoff, executive vice president.The company also changed the name of its subsidiary thrift from Loyola Federal Savings and Loan Association to Loyola Federal Savings Bank. The name change is effective today.The change was made in part to put distance between the strong thrift and weak savings and loan businesses, Mr. Wycoff said.

Washington Mutual Inc. Shares gained $1.09 to $13.55. Turmoil in the mortgage market caused the nation's largest savings and loan to swing to a quarterly loss, but one analyst said Wall Street had expected much worse.

George W. Barrett Jr., executive vice president of Rosedale Federal Savings and Loan, died Aug. 24 of cancer at his Rosedale home. He was 88. Mr. Barrett, the son of a Cloverland milkman and a homemaker, was born on his grandparents' Port Deposit farm and raised in Forest Park. After graduating from Forest Park High School in 1941, he took a job in the accounting department of Commercial Credit Corp. in downtown Baltimore. He enlisted in the Army in 1942, and served aboard the Liberty ship SS John Murray Forbes in the Atlantic as entertainment coordinator.

In what company officials termed a defensive move, Legg Mason Inc. has filed an application with a federal regulator to operate a savings and loan.The Baltimore-based brokerage and money management firm XTC filed papers with the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington to charter Legg Mason Trust Bank FSB.Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, Legg's chairman and chief executive, said the company has no immediate plans to start the savings and loan even if it gets...

A 27-year-old Baltimore County man said that he and two accomplices armed with a sawed-off shotgun called off plans to rob a Fallston savings and loan last fall because "someone could get hurt."Christopher Dennis Myles of the 8300 block of Church Lane in Randallstown pleaded guilty in Circuit Court Wednesday to conspiracy to rob the Atlantic Federal Savings and Loan in the Fallston Mall and will be sentenced April 27.According to the plea agreement, prosecutor Diane Brooks, an assistant state's attorney, will recommend that Myles serve six years in prison with the remainder of his sentence suspended.

Ben Cardin can deal with anything except uncertainty.Polls show that the only thing wrong with our governor is that no one likes him. He is Merlin's Royal Family.RDOne of the photographers arrested in Paris was a Mr. Rat. Fact.The downfall of the governor of Arizona is a late hit from the savings and loan scandals of the 1980s and a true Maryland tragedy.Pub Date: 9/05/97

In the Maryland Savings and Loan ratings chart in Sunday's business section, the third and fourth columns were labeled incorrectly. The third column should have been labeled "Loan loss reserve as a percent of core equity capital," and the fourth column should have been labeled "Nonperforming assets as a percent of core equity capital." Both are reflections of the quality of a lender's outstanding loans as compared with the financial cushion available to protect against downturns.The Sun regrets the errors.

IT SEEMS each day brings more bad news about the savings and loan mess. The latest quarterly review of the industry by the Office of Thrift Supervision documents a dramatic decline. Even the healthiest thrifts are showing an increase in losses and defaulted loans. And the number of those healthy thrifts is dwindling. In the recent survey, the OTS dropped 106 savings and loans from its list of well-capitalized and profitable institutions. Fewer than half the thrifts -- excluding those taken over by the government -- can now be considered in robust financial health.