BANKING & FINANCE - Dec. 5, 1995

GlenFed Says U.S. Has 30 Days to Consider Settlement Offer: Glendale Federal Bank set the deadline after the government filed an appeal Friday to an appeals court decision that favored the Glendale-based savings and loan. GlenFed was one of several companies that bought troubled S&Ls; in the 1980s. S&L; regulators in effect rewarded the buyers by letting them record hundreds of millions of dollars in “goodwill” on their books so they could meet the minimum capital-to-assets ratio. In 1989, the Bush administration and Congress changed the rules, saying thrifts could no longer count goodwill toward their capital requirements, wiping billions in equity off the companies’ books. GlenFed and others sued, claiming that the change broke a contract. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that many of the S&Ls; are entitled to damages. Glendale said last month that it offered a settlement under which it would put all the money it received toward loans for affordable housing, small business and other such programs but that the Justice Department refused to discuss it.