BANKING & FINANCE - Nov. 9, 1994

Comptroller OKs Purchase of Glenfed Branches: Barnett Banks Inc. won approval from a second regulator to buy a batch of thrifts, even though the Justice Department believes Florida’s biggest banking company unfairly denied loans to minority borrowers. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency OKd Barnett’s plans to acquire 34 Florida branches of California-based Glendale Federal Bank, a little more than a month after the Federal Reserve Board granted similar approval. The Fed gave its approval while the Justice Department was conducting an inquiry of Jacksonville-based Barnett on fair-lending allegations. The OCC, which oversees national banks, said it found no evidence of lending bias between July, 1993, and July, 1994.