BANKING & FINANCE - Feb. 29, 1992

Mission Viejo National Bank Is Seized: Federal regulators seized Mission Viejo National Bank, saying it is insolvent because of “liberal lending practices and ineffective supervision by both the board of directors and management.” The 75 employees of the bank’s two branches will be laid off in the next three weeks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. The recession evidently worsened the 10-year-old bank’s condition. Mission Viejo, which primarily made commercial and residential mortgage loans, had assets of $111 million as of Jan. 31. President Jo Ann Kruse said last month that she was looking for an investor to pump cash into the bank to meet regulatory requirements. At the time, she said “things really aren’t looking all that grim.”