Security received an OK to buy an Arizona bank.

However, Federal Reserve Board approval of Security Pacific’s acquisition of Phoenix-based Arizona Bancwest Corp. was conditional, requiring both the Arizona bank and a Security Pacific subsidiary, state-chartered Security Pacific State Bank of Irvine, to halt direct investment in real estate developments. Security Pacific will pay about $480 million for the parent company of Arizona Bank in a deal that has been pending since August, 1985. Both California and Arizona have liberal state laws that allow state-chartered banks to join developers in partnerships to own, develop and sell real estate projects. National banks under federal charters are prohibited from engaging in such partnerships.