An integrated group of business leaders, Mr. Francis said, pooled $2 million to create the city's first minority-owned bank.

Instead, like many other minority-owned banks, it simply accepted deposits and invested them in money market funds and mortgage securities, generating consistent but small profits.

We eliminated the six major lenders to minorities, including minority-owned banks, from the analysis and still found racial bias.

The privately held bank, the only minority-owned commercial bank in the state, had planned to move its headquarters at 960 Southern Boulevard to Westchester County.

In addition, IBC is the largest minority-owned bank in the United States.

The minority-owned commercial bank, founded in 1975, operated five branches in Hispanic comunities in New York City.

The project also encouraged MCI Worldcom Inc. and six other companies to include minority-owned banks in their securities sales last year.

The negotiations could lead to more minority-owned banks.

Included in the pledged sum is a $3.5 million loan to a local minority-owned bank for the purpose of making low-interest home-improvement loans.

Carver's struggle to go public is in some ways indicative of the precarious position of minority-owned banks in the financial services industry.