Reply #3: AND ------------ PNC to acquire 'clean' Riggs

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PNC to acquire 'clean' Riggs
With its acquisition of troubled Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C., PNC Financial Services said it expects Riggs' current regulatory issues to be mostly resolved before the deal closes. However, the merger agreement gives PNC the right to walk away if significant new regulatory troubles arise for Riggs before then.
The Riggs name also will disappear and be replaced by PNC at the bank's 50 branches in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.

"The Riggs we will acquire will not be the same as the Riggs of today," PNC chief executive James Rohr said in a conference call with analysts.



"We will be acquiring a clean company, to the best of our knowledge."




PNC agreed Friday to buy Riggs National Corp., which is under investigation for allegedly failing to prevent, and in some cases fostering money laundering, for about $779 million in stock and cash.

Its Riggs Bank subsidiary, an old-line Washington institution with deep ties to the diplomatic community, has been sanctioned by federal regulators and is under congressional investigation for allegedly helping hide money for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and other lapses.

As part of the deal with the larger Pittsburgh-based PNC, Riggs will shed all of its diplomatic and international businesses -- the source of its regulatory troubles.
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http://www.cincypost.com/2004/07/17/pnc07-17-2004.html