Capital Briefs: Insurer, Farm Group Get Thrift Charters

The Office of Thrift Supervision granted charters to two nonbanks this week.

CNA Financial Corp., the Chicago-based insurer, won permission to convert its California-chartered trust company to a federal thrift. The $60 billion-asset company is a subsidiary of Loews Corp., the New York hotel and insurance conglomerate.

CNA Trust, with $141 million of assets, will offer trust services nationwide, but will not provide discretionary accounts or offer investment advice.

The OTS also allowed FB Bancorp., a consortium of 21 state Farm Bureaus and 19 affiliated insurance companies, to launch Farm Bureau Bank. The bank will be based in Sparks, Nev., but much of the top management will be in San Antonio, Tex.

Farm Bureau Bank will offer credit cards, car and mortgage loans, and deposit accounts to 3.1 million members of the American Farm Bureau Federation, an agricultural trade organization.

There are 46 nonbanks with applications pending before the OTS. These include eight securities firms, 26 insurers, four manufacturers, and eight others. Since January 1997, the OTS has awarded thrift charters to 18 nonfinancial companies.

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