MeraBank Failure to Cost $1 Billion: The...
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
MeraBank Failure to Cost $1 Billion: The taxpayer bill was disclosed by the federal Resolution Trust Corp. in the wake of last week’s sale of the failed Arizona thrift’s operations to BankAmerica for $92 million. BankAmerica converted MeraBank’s 66 branches to Bank of America Arizona branches and took over $3.5 billion in deposits. Separately, the RTC said the failure of Empire Federal Savings Bank of America in Buffalo, N.Y., will cost taxpayers $1.7 billion, making it one of the most expensive thrift failures ever. Empire’s operations in New York, Michigan, Florida and Texas were sold to four separate institutions last week.
