BANKING/FINANCE : Laguna Bank Chairman Sells Stake in Cornerstone S & L to Avoid Conflict

Richard Stenton’s interests in financial institutions were on a collision course, so he recently sold his 44.4% stake in Cornerstone Savings & Loan for $3.4 million to avoid a conflict of interest with Laguna Bank, in which he has a 24% stake.

Stenton is chairman of Laguna Bank, based in Laguna Beach, which opened a loan production office near Cornerstone’s headquarters in Mission Viejo and is negotiating to buy Eldorado Bank’s branch at La Paz and Cabot roads in Laguna Hills.

The moves are part of the bank’s effort to get more involved in the real estate market in Saddleback Valley, which is Cornerstone’s territory.

He also had a regulatory problem. By owning what would be considered controlling interests in two financial institutions, he ran the risk of turning himself into a multiple-bank holding company, which would have drawn him deeper into the miasma of regulatory laws.

Besides, he said, Cornerstone is doing well while the bank still needs help.

“I don’t like to stop when something is not going well,” he said. “When Laguna Bank gets going good, I’ll probably sell.”

The potential conflict, he said, was the main reason he sold his S & L interest to the other six shareholders of Cornerstone. The shareholders paid him half in cash and half in promissory notes.

Stenton helped to negotiate a deal earlier this year to bring in new capital from Chicago-area investors to revitalize Laguna Bank and move it into new areas. He said he expects regulatory approval of the $860,000 cash investment next month.

The investor group is headed by First Oak Brook Bancshares, a multibank holding company with headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. The group includes three of First Oak Brook’s principal directors and officers.

Stenton heads Mission Equity, a Mission Viejo commercial real estate developer and property manager.