I	Photos by Margaret Thomas, left, and Fred SweetsÛÓThe Washington Post
Barry Covington in front of Covington Buick in Silver Spring, and Steven Brodoll, right, helping A1 Showalter at Anacostia Chrysler Plymouth.</br></br>Citizens & Southern National Bank in Atlanta, one of the SouthÛªs biggest banks, secretly financed the acquis-tion of 25 Georgia banks by officers, directors and friendly associates of the bank, according to a civil suit filed yesterday by the Securities and Exchange Commissions.</br></br>The SEC accused the bank of violating federal securities laws by failing to make full disclosure to its stockholders of the terms of the acquisitions.</br></br>The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, said that six of those 25 banks, located near Atlanta, were acquired by C&S in 1975 and that the terms were negotiated by bank officials who were shareholders of the ac-quired bflnks</br></br>The C&S officials and friends of the bank were financed in the acquisition of the so-called ÛÏcorrespondent associate banksÛ by C&S loans featuring preferential interest rates and non-payment of principal, the SEC said.