Spare Change: Small Bank Roars with Monster-Style Name; D.C. Banking

Don't let the name fool you. Megabank of Englewood, Colo., may sound like a colossus, but it has only $231 million of assets.

Larry A. Olsen, its president, acknowledges the misnomer.

"We are a locally owned bank that is responsive to the needs of our community," Mr. Olsen said.

In fact, the company's motto is "The small bank with a big name."

Mr. Olsen said he rarely hears anything negative about the name. In fact, he said he believes it has been successful in distinguishing Megabank from other institutions.

"It's a name people remember," he said, "and a twist on what we really are."

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One of Marion Barry's last acts as mayor of Washington was to fire its banking chief, Anthony Romero.

A letter he signed cited "nondisciplinary reasons due to a change in administration."

But after a month of relaxing at his summer home in Ocean City, Md., Mr. Romero is back on the job. The new mayor, Anthony Williams, asked him to return.

In an interview this week, Mr. Romero said he is out to prove to his new boss that the Office of Banking and Financial Institutions is the "best-run agency" in the district's government.

"I wasn't happy when I had to leave," Mr. Romero said. "We have many items on our plate here, and we won't relax until we get the job done."

The first order of business? To ask Mayor Williams for another $200,000. Mr. Romero said he needs the money to hire two bank examiners and a lawyer; his agency now has seven employees.

Without the extra personnel, Mr. Romero said, the agency will lack the resources to monitor community reinvestment activities or examine the 35 D.C. branches of state-chartered banks. Those with the most such branches are SunTrust Banks Inc., Atlanta, and First National Bank of Maryland.

-Matt Andrejczak

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