Two More Execs Canned In Shakeout at Trade Group

rocking the Credit Union National Association. On Nov. 3, association president Ralph Swoboda, who was fired himself last month during the group's Dallas convention, dismissed Bradford L. Murphy, head of CUNA Service Group, and Jeanne-Marie Murphy, the group's top congressional lobbyist, according to trade group sources and observers. Ms. Murphy and Mr. Murphy are not related. Mr. Swoboda, who will remain CUNA's president until Dec. 31, also announced a promotion, a demotion, and a temporary hire. These changes are intended to placate the association's board, which is angry over setbacks on the financial, lobbying, and other fronts, sources said. "The events and discussions that took place in Dallas clearly pointed to the fact that there were some important management changes that were my responsibility to make happen," Mr. Swoboda said in a three-page memo, referring to the trade group's annual convention in Dallas last month. Mr. Swoboda could not be reached for comment. Mr. Murphy lost his job because of setbacks suffered by CUNA's Card Services division, sources said. As executive vice president of fee-based services, Mr. Murphy oversaw the cards subsidiary. The unit is expected to lose millions this year, in part because of an aborted attempt to shift processing software to Alltel Information Services from Banc One Financial Card Services Corp., sources said. The association has brought out of retirement well-known industry figure Joe Schoggen to fill the void. Mr. Schoggen, a former chief executive of Navy Federal Credit Union and a former CUNA official, will work as chief operating officer through Dec. 31, according to the Nov. 3 memo. "Joe's immediate area of attention will be CSG, where much work needs to be done to restore your confidence in our card operation," Mr. Swoboda said in the memo. Keith J. Floen, senior vice president of Card Services, essentially is being demoted for the card subsidiary's problems. Mr. Swoboda plans to hire an experienced credit card executive to head up the unit, which Mr. Floen has run since 1992, the memo said. Mr. Floen will keep his title but report to this new executive. "I very much appreciate Keith's willingness to stay on in a supporting role," Mr. Swoboda said in the memo. In Washington, Jeanne-Marie Murphy was fired after 12 years as CUNA's senior vice president of congressional affairs. Ms. Murphy had apparently committed a number of sins in the eyes of the association's board. The final straw was the Washington office's initial support of, and subsequent inability to kill, a Senate bill to tighten federal oversight of federally insured, state-chartered credit unions, sources said. CUNA's early support for the bill angered members, while its later decision to oppose the measure cost it credibility on Capitol Hill. But perhaps more importantly, Ms. Murphy ran afoul of politically powerful state credit union league officials during policy debates, sources said. Also, some CUNA directors wanted a Republican to be the lead congressional lobbyist, and Ms. Murphy was a Democrat. John McKechnie, a Republican and former director of the trade group's political action committee, replaces Ms. Murphy. Mr. Swoboda told Charles O. Zuver, director of governmental affairs for CUNA, to fire Ms. Murphy, sources said. Some association sources have claimed that Mr. Swoboda acted at the behest of the board in the firings, but Nancy Pierce, secretary of the board's executive committee, denied any role. "Those were his decisions, his actions," she said.

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