Also. . .

* Los Angeles-based Imperial Bancorp said it got Internal Revenue Service approval to spin off part of its entertainment and specialty-lending businesses to shareholders in a tax-free transaction. The new company, Imperial Financial Group Inc., would include the Lewis Horowitz Organization, which lends to independent film makers; the bank’s small-business finance unit; Imperial Trust Co., which manages about $8 billion in assets; and Imperial’s 24% stake in Imperial Credit Industries Inc., a specialty finance company.