A consultant and an investment banker who have advised many credit unions that have converted to mutual savings banks denied this week that managers and directors were motivated by greed.
Multimillion-dollar windfalls by executives of credit unions that convert are "greatly exaggerated by the press," Alan Theriault, the chief executive of CU Financial Services in Portland, Maine, said Wednesday in a panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute.
"The decision is made not to enrich managers and directors but because it makes good business sense," Mr. Theriault said.
Peter Duffy of Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP said he has never tried to persuade a board by suggesting it could reap financial rewards. "I've never sold it on the money they can earn," he said, adding that credit unions seek to convert because of competitive pressures.
Kirk Cuevas, a partner in the consulting firm Dollar Associates, disagreed. "I actually think it is a component in the decision," said Mr. Cuevas, whose business partner is former National Credit Union Administration chairman Dennis Dollar. "I think it's disingenuous to say otherwise."
