Bank of A. Levy to Close 2 Valley Fed Branches

Of the four Ventura County branches of Valley Federal Savings that were acquired in a Resolution Trust Corp. rescue, at least two will be closed. The fate of the other two is undecided.

At present, all four offices remain open, but those in Camarillo and Simi Valley will be shuttered within two months and their accounts transferred to nearby Bank of A. Levy branches, Levy Bancorp spokesman Rod Dillehay said.

American Savings Bank spokeswoman Diane Nelson said American will decide the fate of Valley Fed’s other two Ventura County branches--in Thousand Oaks and Ventura--within 90 days.

After acquiring Valley Fed and its 22 branches from the Resolution Trust Corp., American sold the Camarillo and Simi Valley units to Levy but retained the other two locations in the county.

Dillehay said Levy paid American $362,000 to assume about $100 million in Valley Fed deposits.

It was the second time in seven months that Levy, the largest bank headquartered in Ventura County, has taken part in a federal takeover of a troubled thrift.

In September, Levy paid $7.4 million to acquire Santa Paula Savings. Levy closed four of Santa Paula’s five offices.

Dillehay and Nelson said all former Valley Fed employees in Ventura County have been retained, but that it is too early to say how many will be hired permanently. In the Santa Paula rescue, Levy kept about 40% of the thrift’s staff on the payroll, Dillehay said.