Bank of the West eyes merger

Bank of the West, a San Francisco-based commercial bank, moved one step closer to its acquisition of Commercial Federal Corporation.

The bank received word from the Federal Reserve on Monday that its acquisition of Commercial Federal Corporation and its subsidiary, Commercial Federal Bank, an Omaha, Nebraska-based federal savings bank, will not require review by the Fed.

Bank of the West and Commercial Federal Bank announced their intention to merge June 13. Commercial Federal Corporation shareholders are scheduled to vote on the combination Nov. 1, and the transaction is expected to close in December.

The FDIC, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the California Department of Financial Institutions have already given their approval of the acquisition.

The resulting institution will operate 681 Bank of the West banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. If completed, the transaction would set Bank of the West's assets at $54 billion.

Bank of the West has branch office in Carmel and Pebble Beach, and opened a Central Coast agribusiness and commercial lending office in Salinas in June to serve agribusiness, commercial and industrial businesses from Santa Clara to Santa Barbara counties.

A subsidiary of BancWest Corporation, Bank of the West has more than $42 billion in assets in 16 states across the Western and Midestern United States, with 477 banking locations, making it the fourth-largest commercial bank west of the Mississippi.

The company was founded in San Jose in 1874 as Farmers National Gold Bank.

Commercial Federal Corporation is the parent company of Commercial Federal Bank, a $10.3-billion federal savings bank founded in Omaha in 1887. It has 198 branches in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arizona.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.