Our recession lesson and how have we successfully weathered the recession?
By doing what we've always done and not deviating from those guidelines or our core values.
During the recession, we continued "business as usual." We felt this was most important, especially in the area of lending. We actively continued to make loans (82% loans versus funds ratio).
We did not cut back on our lending, despite the fact that many banks and credit unions did so. We also followed the same risk guidelines that we had used for many years. We did not expand our loan profile to include riskier investments nor lend to members (or potential members) who did not meet criteria we established and followed long before the recession started.
This meant qualifying members knew they could come to Municipal CU for loans and get the financing they needed, and we knew we could manage the risk we entered with responsible lending practices whereby credit default rates would be controlled and therefore the recession had a minimal impact on profitability and liquidity.
Kam Wong
President and CEO
Municipal Credit Union, New York City
