ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 27, 1996 TAG: 9612270039
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DENVER
SOURCE: Bloomberg Business News
Two community groups have asked a federal court to delay regulators' approval of NationsBank Corp.'s $9.8 billion takeover of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc., a move the bank warned would cost $36 million a month.
The groups accused the Federal Reserve of ignoring several major issues when it approved the purchase by Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank on Dec. 16. One is the impact of the takeover on credit and retail services for poor communities in New Mexico, one of nine states served by St. Louis-based Boatmen's.
``They just rubber-stamped it,'' said Matthew Lee, director of one of the groups, Inner City Press/Community on the Move in Bronx, N.Y.
Inner City Press and the New Mexico Alliance asked that the acquisition, now scheduled for Jan. 7, be delayed until the Fed's approval can be reviewed.
Fed officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Lee said the Fed didn't adequately look at how the purchase would affect consumers' ability to get credit in New Mexico, where Boatmen's is the largest bank.
The Fed glossed over problems at NationsCredit, the bank's consumer finance unit, which some accuse of targeting the poor with high-interest loans, Lee said.
The suit is the latest attack on NationsBank's plans to buy Boatmen's. It comes a month after an embarrassing protest by dozens of chanting demonstrators from St. Louis who marched in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Community groups also have formally opposed the merger, claiming NationsBank is not fulfilling its obligation under the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act to serve equally the rich and poor in the communities where it does business.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB