Lafayette FCU Conversion Was Long in the Making

KENSINGTON, Md. – The process to convert Lafayette FCU into a mutual savings bank, then to stock form, stretches back several years, long before directors and managers of the $330 million credit union informed members. In fact, directors and management at the suburban Washington, D.C., credit union began exploring the charter switch as long ago as 1998, soon after BUCs FCU, in nearby Owings Mills, Md., converted to bank, according to one individual who participated in the review. “They knew a long time ago the money that could be made,” said the individual, who no longer works at the credit union. But the conversion proposal only began gathering steam after Michael Hearne, who was working as a consultant to CUNA on a proposal for a project with the U.S. Small Business Administration, moved from the credit union’s board to become its president and CEO, the source said. Lafayette reported to NCUA that its members approved the conversion to bank and is awaiting NCUA’s certification of the vote, believed to be the closest ever for a credit union conversion to bank. Lafayette officials have refused to share the vote count with members, more than two weeks after completion of the 90-day ballot.