FIRST Maryland Bancorp: First Maryland Bancorp is one of the larger, locally based banks in its market. With headquarters in the Maryland state capital of Baltimore, FMB is a holding company for a number of operating companies. The bank has total assets of $10.8 billion, 195 branches and 4,700 employees.

First National Bank of Maryland operates the branch franchise in the state of Maryland; First Omni Bank is a special credit card provider, York Bank and Trust is the branch operator in South Pennsylvania and First National Bank of Maryland DC operated the network in the Washington DC area. FMB also has specialist leasing, mortgage and insurance subsidiaries.

FMB operates in Maryland and in the neighbouring states of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware and in the District of Columbia in which the capital, Washington DC, is located.

What AIB is Buying: Dauphin Deposit Corporation is the fourth largest commercial bank in Pennsylvania. With headquarters in Harrisburg, it has total assets of $6 billion (£3.7 billion), 98 branches located throughout south central Pennsylvania and 2,700 employees.

Dauphin reported profits before tax of $96 million for 1996 and a return on assets of 1.26 per cent. It is a publicly quoted company with a market capitalisation of $1 billion. Its main business is retail and commercial banking and trust services and it has subsidiaries engaged in mortgage banking and securities brokerage.

Its market area is 12 counties in South Central Pennsylvania with a population of approximately 2 million people.