WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve Board has approved applications by Amsouth Bancorp., Birmingham, Ala., to acquire a small thrift and a small bank in Florida.
Amsouth Bancorp., through its Pensacola subsidiary, Amsouth Bank of Florida, was cleared to acquire certain assets and assume certain liabilities of Mid-State Federal Savings Bank, Ocala, Fla.
Amsouth, with total consolidated assets of $11 billion, is the sixth-largest commercial banking organization in Florida, controlling deposits of $1.5 billion.
Mid-State is the 17th-largest Florida thrift institution, controlling deposits of $653.8 million.
Amsouth also was given approval to acquire Charter Banking Corp., St. Petersburg, Fla., and its subsidiary First Gulf Bank, Gulfport, Fla.
CRA Objection Fails
Charter Banking is the 68th-largest commercial banking organization in Florida, controlling deposits of $102.6 million.
The Fed approved Amsouth's acquisition of Charter Banking over the objection of a citizens group that said the Alabama company did not adequately serve the banking needs of inner-city residents of Birmingham under conditions of the Community Reinvestment Act. The Fed, however, said that Amsouth had taken steps to increase credit availability in areas of low and moderate, and that its Birmingham branch earned an "outstanding" rating in a recent CRA evaluation.
