Great Western Bank (1919–97)
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| Traded as | : GWF |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking |
| Fate | Acquired by Washington Mutual, now JPMorgan Chase. |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Defunct | July 1, 1997 |
| Headquarters | Chatsworth, California |
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Area served
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California, Florida, Washington, Arizona, New York |
| Website | archived official website |
Great Western Bank (previously known as Great Western Savings & Loan) was a large retail bank that operated primarily in the Western United States. Great Western's headquarters were in Chatsworth, California. At one time, Great Western was one of the largest savings and loan in the nation, second only to Home Savings of America. The bank was acquired by Washington Mutual in 1997 for $6.8 billion.
Great Western Bank was held by Great Western Financial Corporation ("GWFC"), a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware.
Great Western was founded in 1919 in California as a savings and loan association. In 1955, it was merged into a holding company, Great Western Financial Corp.
Within five years, Great Western acquired Santa Ana Savings (1956), West Coast Savings (Sacramento, 1957), Guaranty Savings (San Jose, 1958), Central Savings (San Luis Obispo, 1959), and First Savings (Oakland, 1959). The company later bought Santa Rosa Savings (1968) and Safety Savings (Los Angeles, 1969). In 1970 and 1971, Great Western purchased four additional California savings and loan establishments.
In 1972, Great Western Financial combined them all into Great Western Savings.
In the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, Great Western acquired many failed savings and loan offices from the Resolution Trust Corporation.
In December 1985, Great Western moved some administrative functions into a building that it partially owns in Chatsworth.
In October 1989, Great Western announced that they plan to move their headquarters to a yet to be built 10-story executive office building on a 20-acre site in Chatsworth that is adjacent to an existing nine-building service center with plans of selling their current Beverly Hills headquarters building. Great Western finally moved out of their Beverly Hills headquarters to their new headquarters in Chatsworth in May 1992.
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