Gerry Findley

His detractors say Gerry Findley is overbearing, stubborn and opinionated. Some say he's stuck in the past. But the banking consultant's fans say he's honest, open, extremely knowledgeable--and stubborn and opinionated. To Findley, the portly, white-haired dean of California's growing corps of banking consultants, it makes little difference. He sees himself as a fiercely independent adviser and analyst who says what he thinks regardless of whether it makes enemies or friends.

Gerry Findley, who helped start and nurture hundreds of community banks and became known as the dean of California banking consultants, has died. He was 85. Findley watched the telecast of UCLA's football team defeating Rice University last Saturday with his family and died peacefully of leukemia Sunday at his home in Brea, said his son, Gary.

With 32 years of experience, the fiercely independent and outspoken Gerry Findley has become the dean of California banking consultants. Through his Brea-based company, Findley, 68, has helped to start more than 200 banks and savings and loans. He regularly advises bankers on such things as their dealings with regulators, their executive compensation programs, their policy manuals and their merger and acquisition negotiations. The Findley Reports, a family owned business, has grown into multifaceted operation that also includes the publication of books, manuals and annual reports on the financial results of California's banks and its savings and loans.

Consultants Move: The Findley family of financial consultants has moved from two offices in Brea to new quarters in Anaheim. Gerry Findley, the dean of state banking consultants, said the family-run companies needed more space. The move to Anaheim, he said, also provides a more convenient location for the clients of his son, banking lawyer Gary Findley.

Consultants Move: The Findley family of financial consultants has moved from two offices in Brea to new quarters in Anaheim. Gerry Findley, the dean of state banking consultants, said the family-run companies needed more space. The move to Anaheim, he said, also provides a more convenient location for the clients of his son, banking lawyer Gary Findley.

Many of the banks created in California during the first half of the 1980s should never have opened, according to banking consultant Gerry Findley of Brea. He may have a point: Twenty-four percent have failed or merged into other banks, and most of those mergers involved troubled banks forced to sell out. In addition, financial records of banks in the state indicate that 32% more face "serious survival challenges," Findley said.

In a cryptic statement issued Monday, William A. Shane, the son of Mercury Savings & Loan Assn. Chairman Leonard Shane, said he will resign his position as president of the institution "at a mutually convenient time" in the "near future." William Shane, 36, who has been president of the Huntington Beach-based S&L for 14 months and an employee for 13 years, said he had no specific plans but wanted "to pursue other ideas" in or out of the industry.

Bankers often talk about bargains to be had by picking up sick or even healthy savings and loans, something they are allowed to do under the month-old federal law that rescued the S&L deposit insurance system. But Gerry Findley, a Brea industry consultant, argues that banks would gain little profit by buying either healthy or sick S&Ls. "About the only positive feature I can see is possible market entry into a few desirable areas," Findley said in his latest California Banking Newsletter.

The proposed sale of Pioneer Savings & Loan in Newport Beach to Irvine developer John E. Wertin has died. Wertin, who bought a recovering Bank of San Clemente in late 1987, had been negotiating for the purchase of Pioneer since September. He gave up on July 3, according to a recent notice from the state Department of Savings and Loan. Neither Wertin nor James F. Deane, Pioneer's chairman, could be reached to explain why the deal fell through.

Bank of California signs will replace the familiar red diamond logo of Mitsubishi Bank next month when the two Japanese-owned financial institutions complete a merger that will create the sixth-largest bank in California. Although state-chartered Mitsubishi bank of Los Angeles and San Francisco-based Bank of California were owned and operated by the same parent company--Mitsubishi Bank Ltd.

Many of the banks created in California during the first half of the 1980s should never have opened, according to banking consultant Gerry Findley of Brea. He may have a point: Twenty-four percent have failed or merged into other banks, and most of those mergers involved troubled banks forced to sell out. In addition, financial records of banks in the state indicate that 32% more face "serious survival challenges," Findley said.

Bankers often talk about bargains to be had by picking up sick or even healthy savings and loans, something they are allowed to do under the month-old federal law that rescued the S&L deposit insurance system. But Gerry Findley, a Brea industry consultant, argues that banks would gain little profit by buying either healthy or sick S&Ls. "About the only positive feature I can see is possible market entry into a few desirable areas," Findley said in his latest California Banking Newsletter.

The proposed sale of Pioneer Savings & Loan in Newport Beach to Irvine developer John E. Wertin has died. Wertin, who bought a recovering Bank of San Clemente in late 1987, had been negotiating for the purchase of Pioneer since September. He gave up on July 3, according to a recent notice from the state Department of Savings and Loan. Neither Wertin nor James F. Deane, Pioneer's chairman, could be reached to explain why the deal fell through.

Wally Bragdon, whose 2-year-old bank in Petaluma is sporting a life-size cow and calf in its lobby for National Dairy Month, is capitalizing on a budding trend in California banking. After some lean years, interest seems to be picking up in opening new banks in the state. Banks are being created in small communities such as Petaluma and Redlands, where bank mergers are leaving gaps, and in urban neighborhoods where a special need exists, as in East Los Angeles, where a new bank is planned by a group of Latinos.

With 32 years of experience, the fiercely independent and outspoken Gerry Findley has become the dean of California banking consultants. Through his Brea-based company, Findley, 68, has helped to start more than 200 banks and savings and loans. He regularly advises bankers on such things as their dealings with regulators, their executive compensation programs, their policy manuals and their merger and acquisition negotiations. The Findley Reports, a family owned business, has grown into multifaceted operation that also includes the publication of books, manuals and annual reports on the financial results of California's banks and its savings and loans.

Bank of California signs will replace the familiar red diamond logo of Mitsubishi Bank next month when the two Japanese-owned financial institutions complete a merger that will create the sixth-largest bank in California. Although state-chartered Mitsubishi bank of Los Angeles and San Francisco-based Bank of California were owned and operated by the same parent company--Mitsubishi Bank Ltd.

Developer John E. Wertin, who bought control of a recovering Bank of San Clemente last year, has agreed to acquire Pioneer Savings & Loan in a $1.5-million cash deal that would help end a bitter dispute over ownership of the Newport Beach savings institution. Wertin, head of the Pacific Co.

Insured deposits in the failed Valencia Bank of Santa Ana will be transferred to Barclays Bank of California if an Orange County judge agrees today, state and federal regulators said Saturday. The State Banking Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures deposits up to $100,000 per account, negotiated with San Francisco-based Barclays to act essentially as an agent for the FDIC in taking control of $91.9 million in 10,600 Valencia accounts.

Developer John E. Wertin, who bought control of a recovering Bank of San Clemente last year, has agreed to acquire Pioneer Savings & Loan in a $1.5-million cash deal that would help end a bitter dispute over ownership of the Newport Beach savings institution. Wertin, head of the Pacific Co.

In a cryptic statement issued Monday, William A. Shane, the son of Mercury Savings & Loan Assn. Chairman Leonard Shane, said he will resign his position as president of the institution "at a mutually convenient time" in the "near future." William Shane, 36, who has been president of the Huntington Beach-based S&L for 14 months and an employee for 13 years, said he had no specific plans but wanted "to pursue other ideas" in or out of the industry.