In Brief: N.Y.'s Polish-Slavic Credit Union Seized

The National Credit Union Administration took control of a Brooklyn, N.Y., credit union on Saturday, saying the institution's board failed to perform its fiduciary duty.

The NCUA took Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union under conservatorship. The $594 million-asset credit union is financially strong, and its 45,000 members will be able to conduct business as usual with it, the agency said.

Polish and Slavic was put under an enforcement order last summer. The regulator said then that the institution's board was neglecting internal controls and its business plan, that there were conflicts of interest between board members and vendors.

Saturday's takeover reflects dissatisfaction with the speed of resolving these problems, an NCUA spokeswoman said.

Polish and Slavic, founded in 1976, is one of the nation's largest associational credit unions. In contrast to those with geographic or employer-based memberships, it takes anyone of Polish or Slavic origin who pays a $10 annual membership fee to a local Polish and Slavic center.