BANKING/FINANCE

Other savings and loans are having little trouble buying or opening new branches.

Far West Savings in Newport Beach, for instance, won the state’s approval to buy four San Diego County branches from Pacific Coast Savings, an acquisition that removes the San Francisco thrift from the Southern California scene.

The offices--in Carlsbad, Escondido, Mira Mesa and Santee--help to fill out Far West’s branch network, said Charles H. Green, senior vice president of the S & L’s parent firm, Far West Financial in Los Angeles.

The purchase gives Far West up to $185 million in deposits and a total of 29 branches throughout Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Also gaining regulatory approval recently for a new branch was United California Savings Bank in Anaheim, which is adding an office in the Riverside County town of Hemet. Regulators also let troubled American Savings open a new office in Pleasanton--the S & L’s 186th branch.