WASHINGTON - (03/25/05) -- As the bankruptcy reform bill nearsthe finish line of a nine-year race, observers are trying todetermine what benefits credit unions can expect from the measure.Final passage of the bill approaches as the number of credit unionmembers filing for bankruptcy continues near record highs--255,000last year--while the amount of credit union loans subject tobankruptcy continues to soar to new levels--$2.3 billion in 2004,according to NCUA. Experts believe credit unions will be able toimprove their collections by barring those bankruptcy filers withsome financial means from Chapter 7, which allows them to erase allof their debts, and requiring them instead to file a Chapter 13 toreorganize their repayments. "Had this bill been in effect lastyear, and had this bill been effect for several years, creditunions could have improved their collections by at least $60million a year," Bill Hampel, chief economist for CUNA, told TheCredit Union Journal. Hampel used several assumptions in coming upwith his estimate, including the fact that about 40% of all creditunion charge-offs are bankruptcy related; that about three-fourthsof bankruptcy-related losses are those from Chapter 7 filers; andthat advocates project a 10% to 19% improvement in collections,Hampel figures that comes to around $65 million, on the lowend.
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Judge Mark T. Pittman sided with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in ordering the case be moved from Texas to the District of Columbia due to "forum shopping."
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
March 28 -
The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
March 28 -
Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
March 28 -
Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
March 28 -
Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
March 28