BANKING

First Union to Open L.A. Office, Expand Pacific Network: Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union Corp. said it would open a Los Angeles office in an expansion of its Asian trade-finance alliance with Indonesia-based Lippo Group. The office, in Lippobank of California, will be First Union’s first West Coast foothold and its doorway to a Pacific Rim network in Lippo Group offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. First Union, the ninth-largest U.S. banking firm with assets of $77 billion, began its Asian foray in December through a joint venture with Lippo Group’s Hongkong Chinese Bank in Hong Kong. Under the expansion, which requires regulatory approval, First Union and Lippo Group will share proceeds from services such as letters of credit to exporters and importers.