BANKING

Northern Trust Settles Lending Bias Claims: The bank said it has agreed to pay nearly $700,000 to settle the Justice Department claims that four of its Chicago-area banks discriminated against blacks and Latinos seeking home loans. The Justice Department said when it launched its investigation in December, 1993, that bank employees allowed white mortgage applicants to explain problems that turned up on their credit reports but failed to do the same for blacks and Latinos. Under the consent agreement, Northern Trust Co. agreed to pay $566,000 to more than 60 people who have been identified as victims of bias. The bank will put $133,550 in a trust to compensate any other victims found through a review of its records. David Fox, Northern Trust’s chairman and chief executive, denied that the bank violated fair-lending laws.