BANKING

Investor Lure: The Bank of Orange County, recently named a premier performing institution by Anaheim-based Findley Reports consulting group, is attracting new investors.

Laguna Hills broker Vincent J. Salvatore and his father, Americo, of Glen Cove, N.Y., bought 71,500 shares--or 5.25%--of the bank’s parent company, Orange Bancorp, for $92,091, according to a recent filing by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Vincent Salvatore, a broker at Merrill Lynch & Co.’s office in Laguna Hills, said he and his father were confident about the directors’ commitment to the Fountain Valley company and about the future of the once-troubled bank. He said he and his father will be passive investors and will not seek any board seat.

Five of the company’s six directors each hold larger stakes.

The most active buyer in recent years has been Philip J. Rocco, a director and owner of Rocco’s Truck, Van & Four-Wheel Drive Wrecking in Santa Ana. He has become Orange Bancorp’s biggest shareholder with 23% of the stock. He also has preliminary approval from regulators to increase his stake to 49%, but hasn’t done so.