Most Florida banks at the time were private and unregulated.

The bank continued to grow with the acquisition of many more Florida banks over the next two decades.

But then Barnett, an old-line Florida bank, was swallowed in a wave of mergers.

Sun Bank, a leading Florida bank, reported a 75 percent turnover in its training program.

Mr. Shibh made a down payment, transferring $2,200 to a Florida bank.

He told of one graduate last spring who, although offered $38,000 by Citibank in New York, took a job with a Florida bank for $28,000.

In 1998, Alabama National added two more Florida banks and entered Georgia.

First American's Florida bank, which has $48.5 million in assets, will also be sold to local investors, but is too small to produce any significant gain.

In the same period, Citicorp's Florida bank, with $2.7 billion in assets, earned only $2 million.

Mrs. Kimes went to a Florida bank and took out a $200,000 mortgage on the house.