His seven-year-old bank is solidly profitable, a respected institution in Encino, Calif. But John J. Keating, president of Lincoln National Bank, is getting a bum rap all over town. The banker and his institution are suffering from guilt by association with Charles Keating, the savings and loan operator whose Lincoln Savings and Loan of Irvine, Calif., was taken over by federal regulators last April. Charles Keating is a subject of a congressional investigation to determine if he tried to buy favors from five U.S. Senators. John Keating, on the other hand, is not even wanted for a traffic violation.
Even so,...