2012 Op Fee Reduced; Checks Due NCUA April 16
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA confirmed last week the 2012 operating fee for natural person CUs will be 0.9% lower than 2011's rate. The agency will charge a fee of $0 for assets up to $500,000, and $100 for assets from $500,001 to $750,000. Beyond that, operating fees will be on a sliding scale. A calculator can be found at www.ncua.gov. Federally insured CUs have until April 16 to make a single payment to cover operating fees and capitalization deposit adjustments.
Storm Tears Roof Off
Alabama's Secure First
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Secure First CU lost at least half its roof and one CU employee lost their home as storms that killed at least two people and injured more than 100 moved across central Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. The main office of $47-million Secure First was deemed about a 75% loss, according to its president, Jordan Sullivan, who said despite the gloomy estimate by the city, the location should be operating again in about six to eight weeks.
Occupy SF Gets Closer To
Filing For CU Charter
SAN FRANCISCO-Organizers of Occupy San Francisco who are putting together a credit union said they expect to submit an application to state regulators at the Department of Financial Institutions within the next two weeks. Organizers say Peoples' Reserve CU will be patterned on the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Its interest rates will be low and loans will go mostly to people who could not otherwise qualify for loans at banks or even at most credit unions. Borrowers will be required to attend classes in business and personal finance and will have mentors to help their businesses succeed and to enhance their ability to pay back their loans. Organizers hope to raise up to $500,000 in non-member deposits to help capitalize the credit union start-up (CU Journal, Dec. 12, 2011).
Concern Over Remittance Plan
WASHINGTON-WOCCU and CUNA last week expressed concern about the compliance challenges to credit unions posed by new U.S. rules governing international remittance transfers. The 417-page remittance rules were issued Jan. 20 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) along with an accompanying proposal on remittance safe harbor requirements. The two trade groups said their concerns include provisions related to making estimates of fees, compliance with rules about error resolution and liability for acts of "agents," and murky language.
CO-OP, FSCC Merger Complete
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-CO-OP Financial Services and FSCC said the merger of the two companies' shared branch networks is complete. Sarah Canepa Bang, formerly CEO of FSCC, is now chief strategy officer for CO-OP Shared Branching.
Priest Guilty In Stealing Funds
UTICA, N.Y. - A longtime priest in the Village of New York Mills pleaded guilty to stealing $87,000 from the church's account at First Source FCU. Father Valentine Krul pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree grand larceny. He was the chaplain for the Oneida County Sheriff's Department for more than 20 years.
Father Valentine said he took money from three church credit union accounts made up of money from the parish, some of which included bequests, wills, and donations to the church. He said that at one point he made a withdrawal of $46,720 for a condo in Florida. Ordered to pay $87,391 in restitution, he is selling the condo and liquidating his retirement.
Correction: CUNA Mutual Not Party To Suit Between NCUA, WesCorp Execs
An item in the Jan. 24 Credit Union Journal Daily Briefing incorrectly reported the arguments being made in court filings related to D&O liability insurance coverage for former executives of Wescorp. The former WesCorp execs have filed a counterclaim for indemnification in the lawsuit, and are arguing that NCUA, in its role as liquidating agent, is obligated to indemnify them and pay their attorney fees under WesCorp's indemnification policy set forth in its by-laws. Furthermore, the former WesCorp managers have told the court that NCUA failed in maintaining the requisite D&O coverage. CUNA Mutual Group, and its CUMIS unit, are not parties in the litigation. The story should have correctly reported that even were those companies parties to the lawsuit, the maximum aggregate liability involved would be $10 million; however, that issue is not what is being litigated.
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. - Teachers FCU, Long Island's biggest credit union, opened its new headquarters and branch to the public last week. The six-story, 200,000-square-foot building, which is being named after longtime Teachers FCU CEO Robert Allen, is located at 102 Motor Parkway and purchased by the $4-billion credit union in 2010.
The credit union has 600 employees, of which 250 administrative staff members are located at the headquarters.
LAS VEGAS - One Nevada CU, formerly known as Nevada FCU, reported a net loss of $4.8 million for 2011. The $665-million ONCU reported more than 12,000 new members joined in 2011, giving it 77,000 members statewide.
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. - Kinecta FCU is offering members the ability to design their credit cards using a gallery of colorful images or their own photos. Members can select a different image for each user of their card and the first four cards are free. The design function can be found at the credit union's online banking site at the "Design your own card" link.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mazuma CU said it will provide $3.3 million as part of a $7.7 million financing package to American Performance Technologies, a manufacturer of small engines for motor, power sports and lawn equipment. The new loan facility will help the company expand its operations and create 88 new jobs in the Kansas City metro area, the parties said. The company qualified for financing under the New Market Tax Credits Program, a federal tax program designed to help direct the flow of capital into low-income communities.
BRUNSWICK, Maine - A longtime employee of Atlantic Regional FCU - the credit union's outstanding employee as recently as 2009 -was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for stealing $519,000. Marsha Richard, 42, stole the funds by manipulating accounting entries for checks that credit union members had deposited but had been returned for insufficient funds. She pleaded guilty in September. Richard, who worked for the credit union for more than 23 years, was named its outstanding employee in 2009 for spending an average of 525 hours a year on community activities.
As part of her job, she reconciled bounced checks. When a check deposited in a member's account bounced, she was supposed to remove the money from the member's account and apply it to another credit union account, where the money was taken from originally. Instead, she applied it to her own account or a family member's, according to the complaint. The stolen money was being taken from the credit union, not members' accounts.
Atlantic Regional has filed a civil suit against Richard to recover the stolen funds.
