This was the attitude of hundreds of would-be customers at Maspeth Federal Savings bank branches throughout Queens this week. As rumors spread that the mutual company was going public, speculators traveled to Queens from all five boroughs hoping to cash in on what they believed to be an inside stock tip.

Anyone who holds an account when the company announces it is going public, the rumor went, would be entitled to stock options proportional to their account balance.

Unprepared for the influx, the lines at these bank branches soon extended out the door.

"This is insane," said one customer at the Rego Park branch, who fortunately only had to use the ATM. "Waiting on line for playoff tickets is one thing, but bank accounts? That’s ridiculous."

The fact that a spokesperson for Maspeth Federal denied that the bank is going public, was not enough to dissuade the speculators, because even if the rumor is true, not even the tellers would be permitted to say.

Then a Hasidic Jewish community from Brooklyn got wind of the rumor, and the lines became so long that the bank began turning their pre-existing customers away.

Speculators hurried to open accounts at packed branches of Maspeth Federal Savings Banks, spilling in-line onto the street.

"They said they are telling all of their regular customers to come back Friday after sundown or on Saturday," said one longtime customer who was frustrated by several unsuccessful attempts to do her banking. "That’s the Sabbath, they said." Religious Jews limit their activity on Friday evenings and Saturdays.

Unable to cope with the additional volume, on March 31 the bank put a freeze on all new accounts.

"During the past several weeks Maspeth Federal Savings has experienced a dramatic increase in new accounts," said Maspeth chairman Franklin Frontera in an official statement. "This activity has apparently been fueled by an unfounded rumor that our association is converting to stock ownership. Nevertheless, the efficient operation of the bank has made it necessary to restrict deposit growth at the present time and it is for this reason that the Board of Directors has decided not to accept new accounts until further notice."

Soon after, business was back to normal at Maspeth Federal. But for the hundreds of speculators that were able to open the accounts, a game of wait-and-see began.

Occurrences similar to that of Maspeth Federal’s are not uncommon, according to Bill Fullwiter, a spokesperson for the Federal Office of Thrift Supervision, the agency that regulates bank conversions.

"Given the recent track record of banks, and the strength of the market and mutual companies, it is not surprising that people would be interested in trying to capitalize on a tip," he said.

Fullwiter added that the timing of the account rush is also not surprising, since March 31 is generally very often the cut-off date for banks which do announce they are going public.

When a bank applies to convert to a public company," Fullwiter said, "the customers must have been an account holder for at least one year prior to the application to receive stock."

This would mean that should Maspeth announce that it is going public this year, the participants of the account rush would come up empty handed. However, if they announce their conversion next year, everyone that opened an account before the March 31, 1998 deadline would be eligible.

A group of Hasidic Jews on their way to open new accounts at the main branch of Maspeth Federal. Tribune Photos By Manny Patino

Before a bank can successfully convert from a mutual association to stock ownership, they must apply to both the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"There are many rules when it comes to gun jumping situations," said Duncan King, a spokesperson for the SEC. "But there needs to be some sort of smoking gun."

In keeping with SEC policy, King said that he would "neither confirm nor deny" whether or not the SEC was looking into the situation at Maspeth Federal.

Assuming everything goes well, it generally takes four to six weeks for a mutual conversion to be approved by the two agencies.

When this does occur, there is often so much interest in the bank that it there are not enough shares to go around. "In a hot conversion, one that seems to have considerable value," Fullwiter said, "the stock is usually oversubscribed, meaning that all of the account holders buy it out."

In the past decade, several Queens banks have gone public, including Queens County Savings and Astoria Federal. It has proven to be a way for banks to stay lucrative and competitive.

Speculators are already looking into the possibility of several other Queens banks joining the ranks of publicly traded companies.

Only time will tell if Maspeth Federal is one of them.