Fleet Financial sold a portion of Fleet Mortgage to the public last summer.

Fleet Financial said the unit had a loan portfolio of $1.5 billion and generated more than $500 million in new loans in 1995.

Earlier this year, Fleet Financial showed interest, but instead bought Shawmut National.

The company was later acquired by Fleet Financial.

Shares of Fleet Financial, whose earnings came in on the high end of analysts' estimates, were off 25 cents at $42.125.

Fleet Financial is negotiating with Georgia's Attorney General to end an inquiry into possible predatory lending in the state.

But within weeks, he relented and agreed to a merger with Fleet Financial, a much scrappier institution with headquarters just across the street.

Other potential buyers include Fleet Financial and Keycorp, both of which do business on Long Island.

After BankBoston's acquisition by Fleet Financial, he became head of global and wholesale banking.

Fleet Financial, the nation's ninth-largest bank, faced charges of discriminatory lending practices in its lending units before.