BANKING

Great Western Wins Approval to Create National Banks: The nation’s second-largest savings and loan received approval to establish national banks in California and Florida in its effort to escape the high cost of thrift deposit insurance. The ruling puts further pressure on Congress to come up with a plan to rebuild the ailing Savings Assn. Insurance Fund--something lawmakers have been working on for more than a year. Chatsworth-based Great Western is the second major thrift to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter national banks, and applications from at least five other thrifts are pending. Great Western Financial estimates it could save $70 million a year in deposit insurance premiums by convincing its customers to shift their deposits to higher-yielding accounts in its new subsidiaries.