Plan Presented To Revive S&L; Fund

Bank and thrift regulators offered a plan Friday to revive the ailing savings and loan insurance fund and hinted they may soon propose the conversion of savings and loans into banks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Treasury Department and the Office of Thrift Supervision offered the rescue plan, which would have thrifts pay a one-time $6 billion charge to strengthen the fund, during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

The Savings Association Insurance Fund has such a thin cushion that a single large thrift failure could wipe out the fund, “leaving taxpayers fully exposed,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D’Amato.