NEW YORK -- The New York State banking regulator has asked Green Point Savings Bank to stop trying to change the minds of depositors who had voted against the mutual thrift's plan to convert to stock ownership.
In a letter last Wednesday, less than a week after he ruled in Green Point's favor by declaring a takeover bid by Republic New York Corp. unlawful, banking superintendent Derrick D. Cephas wrote that "such depositors [should] not be subjected to the pressure or coercion inherent in a selective resolicitation of only those who have voted against the plan of coercion."
Mr. Cephas asked Green Point chairman Thomas S. Johnson for written confirmation that the bank would comply. A Green Point spokesman on Friday, refused to discuss the controversy, but said the bank would comply.
