Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994                   TAG: 9412070082
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. bankruptcy cases fell 6.6 percent in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the second straight annual decline and just the second drop in a decade, the government said Monday.

Bankruptcy filings totaled 837,797 last year, down from 897,231 in fiscal 1993, when bankruptcies declined 8.2 percent, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts reported.

Bankruptcy cases fell in all 11 circuits covering the states and territories but rose 2.5 percent in the District of Columbia. In the 4th Circuit, which includes Virginia, filing declined 5.3 percent.

Until fiscal 1993, bankruptcy filings had not dropped since they fell to 346,617 from 362,059 the previous fiscal year, the judicial agency said.

Filings totaled 208,187 in the final three months of the fiscal year, compared with 206,570 in the first quarter, 206,565 in the second and 216,213 in the third.

The report said the majority of filings in the fourth quarter - 140,090 - were for Chapter 7 bankruptcies, or liquidations designed for individuals and businesses who want to start over but who cannot pay their debts from their incomes.

- Associated Press

First Union to buy Fla. savings bank

First Union Corp., Charlotte, N.C., parent of Roanoke-based First Union National Bank of Virginia, said Monday it has agreed to acquire American Savings of Florida, a $3.5 million-assets savings bank based in Miami. The purchase, valued at $253 million, includes exchange of a share of First Union common stock for every American Savings share at $21 each.

First Union expects to repurchase between 50 percent and 100 percent of the common shares to be issued in the acquisition.

The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 1995, subject to American Savings shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and various other conditions of closing.

- Associated Press