Chapter 11 protection would let the failing sub-prime lender sell off its assets more quickly. Fremont General Corp., the former sub-prime lending giant that regulators forced out of the mortgage business last year, said Friday that it probably would seek bankruptcy protection to hasten its liquidation of assets.

Once deeply involved in sub-prime lending, the limping company must raise capital or sell its banking unit. Regulators who forced Fremont General Corp. out of the sub-prime lending business last year have given the financial company until May 26 to find a buyer for its bank, Fremont Investment & Loan, or raise more capital, Fremont said Friday.

Federal and state banking regulators have given financial services company Fremont General Corp. 60 days to raise new capital or sell its banking subsidiary, the company said Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the California Department of...

The damage at Santa Monica-based Fremont General tops $1 billion. Seven months after regulators forced Fremont General Corp. to quit making sub-prime mortgages, the Santa Monica banking company disclosed the damage Wednesday: more than $1 billion in losses stemming from loans to people with bad credit or troubled finances.

A group led by billionaire Gerald J. Ford is threatening to withdraw its $80-million investment in Fremont General Corp., a Santa Monica financial holding company that regulators drove out of the sub-prime home loan business this year.