FED ALLOWS CITICORP &lt;CCI>, SEARS &lt;S> THRIFT DEAL
  The Federal Reserve Board said it
  approved Citicorp's application to purchase through its
  subsidiary, Citicorp Savings of Oakland, Calif., some assets
  and assume some liabilities of Sears Savings Bank of Glendale,
  Calif.
      Citicorp Savings proposed to assume two billion dlrs in
  deposits and other liabilities and to purchase 1.9 billion dlrs
  in assets of 50 branch offices of Sears Savings.
      The proposal involved less than one third of the assets and
  liabilities of Sears Savings, owned by Sears, Roebuck and Co
  &lt;S>.
      The Fed said that it generally has determined there were
  potentially adverse effects of allowing affiliations of banks
  and savings and loan associations, although it has allowed bank
  holding companies to acquire some failing thrifts.
      It said Citicorp's proposal "properly may be viewed as the
  permissible acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of S
  and L branches rather than the acquisition of an S and L."
      Citicorp Savings, the successor to the failed Fidelity
  Savings and Loan Association, has assets of 4.9 billion dlrs
  and operates 86 branches in California, mainly in the north.
      Sears Savings has 6.6 billion in assets and 91 branches
  predominantly in southern California.
      The application, which was approved unanimously, will not
  eliminate Sears Savings as a competitor, the Fed said.
  

