BANKING

CalFed Begins Switch to Bank Holding Format: In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the Los Angeles-based thrift said it would become a wholly owned subsidiary of a new company, Cal Fed Bancorp Inc. California Federal Bank also plans to apply for a charter for a national bank, which also would be folded into the holding company, spokesman James F. Hurley said. Following the lead of Great Western Financial Corp., CalFed said it was considering the change to avoid “potential competitive disadvantages,” including higher deposit insurance fees and in response to a plan by Congress and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to slash insurance fees for commercial banks but not S&Ls.; CalFed hopes to put the plan to a shareholder vote in November.