ALEXANDRIA, Va. - (10/15/05) -- NCUA said Monday it has called on agroup lobbying Congress to ease the conversion of credit unions tobanks to join the regulator in its efforts to protect credit unionmembers throughout the controversial process. In an unusual letterto Lee Bettis, head of the Coalition for CU Charter Options, NCUAGeneral Counsel Robert Fenner called on the thrift representativesand others favoring the credit union-to-bank switches to backproposals barring insiders from profiting from the conversion."NCUA asks you to join the agency in seeking legislation that wouldensure directors approve of conversion plans in the best interestsof members and would enable members to make informed decisionsabout charter options promoted by unbiased directors," Fenner wroteBettis, in response to charges that NCUA is unfairly opposed to thecharter conversions. Fenner urged Bettis to support NCUA's proposalfor a five-year ban on insider enrichment, such as through stockpurchases, options or grants, as a result of the conversion. Such aban, asserted Fenner, would ensure that only "unbiased officials"would evaluate whether a conversion is best for a credit union'smembers. Bettis was president of AGE FCU and converted the Albany,Ga., credit union to a mutual savings bank, then a publicly ownedbank now known as Heritage Bank of the South, and is working withthe thrift trade groups to loosen NCUA's regulatory control overcredit union conversions.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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