71.   Opening foreign branches or making acquisitions would be a long way off, Lavados said.

72.   Pharmacists probably feel the same way when Duane-Reade opens yet another branch.

73.   Reed says that he wants to take full-service banking nationwide and that he need not acquire or open many branches to do so.

74.   Rather, many will open branches in office towers being built in two less developed Tokyo districts -- Shiodome and Nishi Shinagawa.

75.   Schwab also has opened five branches nationwide, including two in the Bay Area, to cater to Asian Americans by providing bilingual brokers and materials.

76.   Separately, the Chicago-based company said it would open branches in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, and in Atlanta.

77.   Societe Generale last year opened branches in the Latvian capital Riga, in Mexico, China, Pakistan and in Thailand.

78.   Soho House has recently explored opening a branch in New York, but has been stalled by local laws prohibiting for-profit, members-only clubs.

79.   Stolichny is the only Russian bank to have met European Community standards for opening a branch, one in the Netherlands.

80.   Taiwan newspapers reported that China might allow the banks to open branches immediately, but Chinese officials denied those reports.