In Brief: 2 Thrift Applications Back on Track at OTS

Regulators have reinstated applications for thrift charters by Conseco Inc. in Carmel, Ind., and Morgan Keegan Inc. in Memphis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision in January labeled the applications incomplete and classified them as withdrawn.

Steven J. Eisen, a lawyer representing Morgan Keegan, said the brokerage filed a new application answering 19 questions on the proposed thrift's trust operations. Morgan Keegan also appealed the agency's decision to shelve the original filing.

Conseco spokesman Jim Rosensteele said the diversified financial services firm complied with the agency's request that it disclose its Community Reinvestment Act compliance plans. In the original application, the CRA portion was included in the business plan, which is confidential, he said.

The two companies first filed applications in late 1998. Forcing them to refile could prove important if Congress outlaws unitary thrift holding companies applied for after Dec. 31.

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