ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two more troubled Las Vegas credit unions will be merged out, the latest in a string of deals that continues to winnow the state's credit unions, the National Credit Union Administration reported this morning.
The agency also cleared mergers for five more billion-dollar-plus credit unions, which are gobbling up smaller troubled institutions at an accelerating pace. The NCUA said it approved two of four mergers proposed by Wisconsin's Landmark CU and separate acquisitions for California's Provident CU, Illinois's Baxter CU and Virginia CU.
In the prior month the NCUA approved seven mergers for billion-dollar giants.
In Las Vegas SONEPCO FCU, a troubled $62 million credit union formed to serve employees of Nevada Energy Co., will be merged into SCE FCU, a $501 million credit union in El Monte, Calif., that serves Southern California Electric; and SWG FCU, a $26 million credit union for Southwest Gas & Electric, will be acquired by Sierra Pacific FCU, a $76 million Reno credit union. SONEPCO has lost $1.2 million so far in 2011 and SWG has reported loss for each of the last three years.
The mergers of the two ailing credit unions follows the elimination over the past few years of Nevada's Clearstar Financial FCU, Community One CU, Cumorah CU, Ensign FCU and Greater Nevada FCU.
The NCUA said this morning it approved the merger of Target Corp. FCU in Minneapolis into Baxter CU in Illinois; of Fifth Street Baptist Church FCU into Virginia CU; of El Camino Hospital FCU into Provident CU in nearby Redwood, Calif.; and of two smaller credit unions, American CU in Milwaukee and Co-operative CU in Racine, into Landmark CU, the $1.7 billion institution based in New Berlin, Wis.
Also cleared for mergers are: $550 million Webster First FCU in Worcester, Mass, (with $25 million Fitchburg Municipal Employees FCU); $700 million Point Breeze FCU, Hunt Valley, Md. (with $2 million Baltimore Pipe Trades FCU); $500 million Neighbors FCU, Baton Rouge, La. (with $46 million Keypoint FCU, Baton Rouge); and $385 million Credit Union of America, Wichita, Kan. (with $75 million First Choice CU, Wichita).
