SELF-HELP ADDS 5TH TROUBLED CU
OAKLAND, Calif.-Fast-growing Self-Help FCU agreed to acquire another troubled California credit union, its fifth in two years, as it spreads the influence of its community development sponsor, North Carolina-based Center for Community Self-Help.
PRIMEWAY ACQUIRES TROUBLED CU
HOUSTON-Primeway FCU was cleared by NCUA to merge into it TexasOne Community CU, a one-time $148-million credit union that has reported big losses in recent years. The deal will create one of the city's biggest credit unions with almost $400 million in assets.
VISA ADDS $500M TO LITIGATION FUND
SAN FRANCISCO-Visa said it has deposited $500 million into an account earmarked for litigation costs, a move that essentially acts as a repurchase of class B shares from credit unions and banks.
SAC OPENS 3RD WAL-MART BRANCH
OMAHA, Neb.-SAC FCU said it is opening a third Wal-Mart branch in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 555-square-foot branch is located in the middle of the store. The in-store branch will provide full services, including savings, checking, loans, mortgages and business services and will be staffed by five employees.
MEMBERS UNITED REPORTS LOSSES
WARRENVILLE, Ill.-Members United Corporate FCU reported it lost another $19.1 million in April due to write-offs on its investments and has depleted almost all of its remaining member capital.
AMERICAN FIRST CEO STREET RETIRES
LA HABRA, Calif.-American First CU, a troubled, one-time $690-million credit union, said its long-time president and CEO Bob Street is retiring. During his 20 years at the helm Street grew the credit union from $200 million to a high of $692 million in 2008. But hard times have forced a retrenchment and the credit union was down to $570 million after losses of $14.5 million in 2008 and $14.4 million in 2009 and a loss of $1.7 million for the first quarter of 2010.
ELEVATIONS CREATES FOUNDATION
BOULDER, Colo.-Elevations CU has launched a new charitable arm, the Elevations Foundation. The foundation replaces the $950-million credit union's Community Relations Committee, which in the past decade has awarded more than $1 million in Boulder and Broomfield counties.
CU FLIES INTO NORTH TEXAS
FORT WORTH, Texas-American Airlines FCU announced the opening of its newest north Texas branch in the town of Euless, not in an airport as with most of the $5-billion credit union's other branches.
FINANCIAL ED COORDINATOR ADDED
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio-Ohio Catholic FCU has hired a member educator coordinator to provide free financial education to students in grade schools and high schools throughout the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
HOSTAGE-TAKING ROBBER SENTENCED
OLYMPIA, WASH.-An armed robber who was shot twice and escaped after holding a TwinStar Credit Union employee hostage in January was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The robbery ended with the hostage being freed by police and the robber fleeing. He was arrested in Olympia the night with two bullet wounds from the incident.
ASI CONCERNED ABOUT MERGER REG
ALEXANDRIA, VA.-ASI Inc., the last surviving private deposit insurer for credit unions, worried that NCUA voting proposals on conversions to private insurance and to mutual savings banks lumps insurance converts with the much-reviled switches to banks.
