Spare Change: National of Alaska Says It's Sticking by Plans To Invest

An Alaska community bank that had tentatively agreed to inject $2 million into an ailing Russian bank said Thursday that the plunge of Russia's financial markets has not changed its plans.

National Bank of Alaska, Anchorage, had announced last week that it would invest the funds into Far Eastern Bank, a $100 million-asset bank in the port city of Vladivostok.

"We plan to be a long-term, active investor," said Ben Barrera, a spokesman for $2.75 billion-asset National Bank of Alaska. However, he added that "it's a little scary right now, and we still have the opportunity to bail out."

The Alaskan bank, which already does business in the region, said investing in Far Eastern would benefit its own Russian and American customers in the oil, construction, and fishing industries.

Mr. Barrera said his bank would gain a seat on Far Eastern's board. The transaction is expected to take place in October, he said Thursday.

Northern California concertgoers who are not familiar with the name Bay View Bank will be by summer's end.

San Mateo-based Bay View, with $5 billion of assets, has signed on as the lead sponsor of two summer concert series: the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco and Metro's Music in the Park in San Jose. The bank-which until this year had supported only smaller cultural attractions-is also the lead sponsor of the acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival, to be held in October.

Jan Schlesinger, senior vice president of marketing at Bay View, said the bank is spending $245,000 to sponsor the three events, which are expected to attract well over 100,000 patrons. Sponsorship includes banners on the concert stages and mention in all literature promoting the events.

"This is our first step into major event sponsorship," Ms. Schlesinger said. -Alan Kline

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