Glendale Federal, on Heels Merger Pact, Setting Up a CRA Program for

The lead subsidiary of Glendale, Calif.-based Golden State Bancorp said it plans to create a community development loan program for businesses in low- and moderate-income areas.

Glendale Federal Bank promoted vice president Larry Trujillo to run the program.

Golden State, with $16 billion of assets, agreed in February to be bought by First Nationwide Holdings of San Francisco. In its approval of the merger, the Office of Thrift Supervision required Golden State to provide more counseling to low-income and minority business owners.

In an interview, Mr. Trujillo said he would stay on after the merger is completed.

The deal, which would combine Glendale Federal with First Nationwide's California Federal Bank to form the nation's No. 3 thrift, with $51 billion of assets, is expected to close in the third quarter.

The new thrift is to be run by senior executives of CalFed. As part of the deal, they promised to make $25.1 billion in community development loans, including $850 million in small-business loans, over 10 years.

Mr. Trujillo said his position was created before the merger was planned.

Both California thrifts became active in small-business lending in 1996. Mr. Trujillo said he plans to work with organizations that have fought Glenfed's past acquisitions because of resulting branch closings.

"Some organizations have chosen to protest us," Mr. Trujillo said. "But I want to work with them to resolve their concerns."

One of those groups is the California Reinvestment Committee, a community-oriented nonprofit, based in San Francisco.

But Alan Fisher, the group's executive director, said in a recent interview that he was pleased to hear about the creation of Mr. Trujillo's job.

"It's a positive step that the bank brings in an experienced small- business lender," he said. "It's always better to have the responsibility centralized, as long as that person understands the community.

Mr. Trujillo, who started his career at BankAmerica Corp. and later worked for a consulting firm, joined Glendale Federal in 1996 as vice president in the Community Business Banking Group. He reports to Terry Hess, Glendale Federal's executive vice president and director of small- business banking.

Previously, five of Glenfed's regional business banking officers were responsible for community development lending. These officers remain with the thrift, responsible for small-business lending, but their community development duties have been taken over by Mr. Trujillo.

Glenfed's community development loans would not require as many documents and would put less emphasis on personal credit than traditional small-business loans, Mr. Trujillo said.

Mr. Trujillo also said he plans to work with the National Black Chamber of Commerce and local Small Business Development Centers to provide more counseling for business owners.

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