PayThink

Over the last two years, I have often found myself mystified while reviewing the Asset Liability Management (ALM) practices of my community banking clients. When I ask for liquidity forecasts, many times I get a blank stare. At best I may receive a forecast for an upcoming week — with nothing beyond that timeframe.

Oddly, for a country that pioneered the concept of "closure" and that couldn't rest until a movie was finally made showing Gilligan and the others being rescued from the island, mergers never seem to have an epitaph.

Just a quick query to readers of Paul Volcker´s Group of 30 regulatory restructuring proposal: How badly do you think he wanted to do away with mark-to-market accounting while he was writing it?

It´s hard to determine what´s most important: Last week the Government Accountability Office released a report highlighting missed deadlines at the Small Business Administration, which was supposed to have a program to help stimulate the secondary market for SBA loans set up by April. The GAO report said that could now be delayed until June, and SBA lenders and broker-dealers have been clamoring for help, claiming they can neither lend nor trade on the secondary market until it arrives. But a private company that tracks SBA lending and loan sales is claiming activity has increased, despite the delay in real aid to the secondary market.

In recent hearings on Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have been grilled over the role of China in the world economy.

Collectors often balk at the idea of Collateral Protection Insurance (CPI) because they believe it will make their job more difficult despite the significant financial benefits to the credit union. They fear that adding the cost of force-placed insurance to loan balances and monthly payments will make collecting more difficult and increase delinquency.

Perusing the trade press recently, I've concluded that I'm the only person in credit union land who thinks relaxing mark-to-market (MTM) accounting rules was a bad idea. But I have plenty of company in the international accounting and investing communities; the IASB, the AICPA and the CFA Institute (of which I'm a charter holder) adamantly opposed FASB's move.

There are certain words you never hear used together in the same sentence. "France" and "ideal call center location" is one example. "Bank" and "consumer benefit" is another. And then there are classics such as "economist" and "A-List party invitee."

Like all other financial institutions, credit unions are required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedure's Act (RESPA) to make complex organizational changes in 2010 related to the way revenue is disclosed to borrowers. At first glance, this may seem like a fairly simple adjustment, however, if not handled properly it could cause a painful transition that impacts the quality of member service.

I recently had dinner with a former credit union executive who is one of the sharpest people I've ever worked with. Gina Maria Sacripanti spent 16 years in CU management. Two years ago she graduated magna cum laude from George Washington University's highly ranked MBA program. She then left her post as COO of FDIC FCU to become director of business development & marketing for the Washington Examiner.