Past haunts founder of new thrift

March 31, 2000
A banker linked in court documents to questionable lending and accounting practices at two former Bay Area savings and loans in the 1970s and 1980s is leading a group that has applied to start a San Francisco thrift and loan.
Bruce Flanagan, who headed Pacific Coast Savings & Loan Association until federal regulators took control in 1988 and later sold its assets at a cost of $24 million to taxpayers, heads a group that wants to open Pacific First Bank by fall. The new institution is intended to serve small businesses in Haight-Ashbury, the Sunset and other nearby neighborhoods.
Prior to Pacific Coast, Flanagan led Civic Federal Savings and Loan Association, where government overseers claimed in court documents that he improperly inflated revenues.
Flanagan was never charged in connection with either institution and he denies the allegations.