Western Savings and Loan

{{Short description|Financial institution in Arizona (1929–1990)}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Western Savings and Loan

| type = Private

| logo =

| foundation = {{start date and age|1929}} in Phoenix, Arizona

| fate = Insolvency

| defunct = {{end date and age|1990|6|1}}

| location = Phoenix, Arizona,
United States

| key_people = Junius Driggs, CEO
Douglas Driggs

| num_employees =

| industry = Savings and loan association

| revenue = $6 billion USD

| area_served = Arizona, Utah

| successor = Bank of America Arizona (and later Bank of America)

}}

Western Savings and Loan was an American financial institution founded by the Driggs family.

The Driggs family came to Arizona in 1921 after trading everything they owned—a bank, drugstore, hotel, and wheat farm in Driggs, Idaho—for a section of cotton land in Maricopa County. Their timing was unfortunate as cotton prices plummeted just as their crop came in and they were forced to take jobs selling building and loan certificates. In 1929, the Driggs family pooled $5,000 to found the Western Building and Loan Association, which became Western Savings.

Success and eventual failure

Western Savings and Loan eventually became a $6 billion savings and loan institution. Western shared a position on the list of the nation's 100 largest savings and loans with other Arizona-based institutions – MeraBank was number 27 on the list, Western came in at 37th, Great American was 67th, and Pima was 82nd. But in 1989, Western Savings moved into second place – not for its size, but for the amount of its losses, with a $1.06 billion net deficit, following a substantial but smaller loss the previous year. Western Savings was taken over by the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal depositor for the savings and loan crisis bailout in June 1989.{{cite news |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/52157/DESPITE-PROFITABLE-SL-BRANCH-WESTERN-SL-FALLS-TO-REGULATORS.html |title=Western S&L Falls to Regulators |newspaper=Deseret News |date=June 22, 1989 |first=Matthew |last=Brown}}{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In June 1990, Bank of America paid the Resolution Trust Corporation $81 million for Western Savings' $3.5 billion in deposits in 60 branches in Arizona and one branch in Salt Lake City, Utah, and converted the thrift into commercial bank called Bank of America Arizona.{{cite news |last=Furlong |first=Tom |title=BankAmerica Buys Arizona's 2nd-Largest S&L : Thrifts: It Outbids Wells Fargo and Security Pacific in a Federal Auction. Other Banks Have Suffered Huge Losses in the State in Recent Years |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 2, 1990 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-02-fi-210-story.html}}{{cite news |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/119921/UTAH-ARIZONA-OVERSEEING-BANKS-BRANCH.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926065635/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/119921/UTAH-ARIZONA-OVERSEEING-BANKS-BRANCH.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |title=Utah, Arizona Overseeing Bank's Branch |newspaper=Deseret News |date=August 31, 1990 |first=Lisa Riley |last=Roche}} In 1995, President Gary Driggs pleaded guilty to two felony charges and was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for five years.{{cite news |title=President of failed Western Savings is fined |newspaper=Tucson Citizen |date=November 28, 1995 |url=http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/1995/11/28/95254-president-of-failed-western-savings-is-fined/ |author=}}

Accomplishments and recognition

American Newcomen honored Western Savings and Loan Association in the year of the company's 40th anniversary. Since it was formed by the Driggs family in the spring of 1929, six months before the historic stock crash, Western Savings had grown by 1969 to become the largest savings and loan association in Arizona and among the 100 largest in the United States. The major objectives of the association were the encouragement of thrift and the promotion of home ownership. Over those years, more than 30,000 first mortgage loans had been made, totaling more than 390 million dollars, thus becoming a significant factor in the growth and development of Arizona.{{cite web |url=https://shop.newcomen.org/product.php?productid=81231 |title=American Newcomen |publisher=The Newcomen Society of the United States |access-date=September 20, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527152056/http://shop.newcomen.org/product.php?productid=81231 |archive-date=May 27, 2005 }}

References

External links

{{cite news |title=Thrift Executives: John and Gary Driggs; Arizona's Banking Brothers Branch into Casinos, Hotels And Land |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 7, 1982 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/07/business/thrift-executives-john-gary-driggs-arizona-s-banking-brothers-branch-into.html?pagewanted=all |first=Thomas C. |last=Hayes}}
{{cite news |title=$1.5-Billion Suit Filed in S&L's Failure : Thrifts: Former officials and borrowers at Western Savings & Loan face civil fraud and racketeering charges. |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 15, 1992 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-15-fi-462-story.html |first=Susan |last=Schmidt}}
{{cite news |title=Ranch Deal Symbol of SL Crisis |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 14, 1990 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/ranch-deal-symbol-of-sl-crisis/1def373b-a809-42a5-95b0-0feaf6473bac/ |first=Jerry |last=Knight}}
{{cite news |title=Arizona Thrift's Tangled Legacy |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 10, 1992 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/07/10/arizona-thrifts-tangled-legacy/6e701b74-a94b-4ccf-9d98-cfec18ce3b4d/ |first=Susan |last=Schmidt}}

Category:Defunct banks of the United States

Category:Banks established in 1929

Category:1929 establishments in Arizona

Category:Banks with year of disestablishment missing

Category:Savings and loan crisis

Category:Banks disestablished in 1990

Category:1990 disestablishments in Arizona