BANKING: Helm at the Helm

BANKING Helm at the Helm

Banker Harold Holmes Helm, 58, expansion-minded chairman of Manhattan's Chemical Corn Exchange Bank, long had his "loving eye" on the New York Trust Co. He knew that a minority of New York Trust shareholders wanted to sell out if they could get a good price. New York Trust's big wholesale banking business (specializing in large industrial accounts) and its seven offices would nicely complement his own 94-office bank doing a largely retail banking business with smaller clients. Last week Helm proposed a merger, swapping 1¾ shares of Chemical Corn stock for one share of New...