SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Fast-growing Empower FCU said Friday NCUA has approved its acquisition of Telco FCU, an undercapitalized $23 million credit union based in nearby Elmira.
The deal came as the FDIC was announcing it had seized four more banks, making a total of 57 for the year, more than double last year’s 25 failures. NCUA, more than bank regulators, has sought to merge failed credit unions instead of liquidating them, meaning it has recorded on five credit unions failing so far in 2009.
Telco, which has offices in Elmira and Big Flats, reported a $2.3 million operating loss for 2008 and a $212,000 loss for the first quarter, cutting net worth to under 3%. Empower, which had grown to over $750 million, reported a strong $5.3 million operating net for 2008 and a $1.9 million operating net for the first quarter of 2009.
Empower has more than doubled in size over the past two years through mergers with Power FCU and, more recently, NestEgg FCU, to become one of the dominant credit unions in central New York.
Friday’s bank failures include: Vineyard National Bank, in Rancho Cucamonga, Cailf.; Temecula Valley Bank, in Temecula, Calif.; BankFirst, in Sioux Falls, S.D., and First Piedmont Bank, in Winder, Ga., Georgia’s 10th bank failure so far this year.
The Vineyard Bank failure is expected to cost the FDIC deposit insurance fund an estimated $579 million and the Temecula Valley Bank will cost the agency an estimated $391 million.
