Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Atlas Savings and Loan Association
What happened to Atlas Savings and Loan Association?
Atlas Savings and Loan Association in San Francisco, CA was merged into Empire of America-California, FSB of Woodland Hills, CA with federal assistance on Jul 31, 1986. After 3 more changes of hands, what was Atlas Savings and Loan Association is today part of Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (Buffalo, NY).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1979Atlas Savings and Loan Association opens in San Francisco, CA
- Jul 31, 1986ASSISTED MERGERAtlas Savings and Loan Association was merged into Empire of America-California, FSB of Woodland Hills, CA with federal assistance.FDIC certificate 32103 ends; its business continues under certificate 32485.
- Dec 31, 1987MERGEDEmpire of America-California, FSB of Woodland Hills, CA merged into Empire of America FSA of Buffalo, NY.FDIC certificate 32485 ends; its business continues under certificate 30321.
- Feb 28, 1990FAILEDEmpire of America FSA (by then renamed Empire of America FSB) of Buffalo, NY failed, and Empire Federal Savings Bank of America of Buffalo, NY took it over.FDIC certificate 30321 ends; its business continues under certificate 32952. The FDIC's failure list dates the failure Jan 24, 1990.
- Sep 28, 1990RESOLVEDEmpire Federal Savings Bank of America of Buffalo, NY was closed in a federal resolution, and its business passed to Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company of Buffalo, NY.FDIC certificate 32952 ends; its business continues under certificate 588.
- TodayOPEN
Manufacturers and Traders Trust CompanyMain office Buffalo, NY · FDIC certificate 588 · 957 offices in 14 states on June 30, 2026Every Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.mtb.com
If you still have something from Atlas Savings and Loan Association
A lien that was never released
Empire of America FSB failed on Jan 24, 1990, handled by the Resolution Trust Corporation, the agency that closed failed savings institutions from 1989 to 1995. The FDIC's lien-release page covers failed banks and savings and loans placed in FDIC receivership; it does not say how releases work for resolutions this old.
Call FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 (8am–4pm Central, weekdays) and ask whether the FDIC holds this institution's receivership. Ask Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company as well: the chain above leads there. The FDIC's own instructions are at FDIC, Obtaining a Lien Release.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Empire Federal Savings Bank of America). Start with Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, and ask them to search under the name Atlas Savings and Loan Association.
This failure is older than the current federal rule on unclaimed deposits (mid-1993), so different rules apply. Search FDIC unclaimed funds search, search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and ask FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 what applies to this institution.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company. A box abandoned for years may have been turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 32103 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.