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SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Redwood CU announced today it has agreed to absorb Cal State CU Of North Bay, an ailing one-time $110 million credit union located in the same town. Cal State CU, which reported net worth of just 3.7% and assets of $90 million at year-end, is the second large California credit union to be merged out in recent weeks, following Oakland Municipal CU, a one-time $110 million credit union that was acquired by Western FCU. The deal will give $1.7 billion Redwood, which reported net income of $6.1 million for 2010, four additional branches in its core market.

MADISON, Wis. — CUNA Mutual Group is reporting net income for 2010 of $87-million, a 58% increase over one year earlier, despite a struggling economy and flat to negative growth at most credit unions.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Arrowhead Credit Union, which was battered by huge losses in 2008 and 2009, managed to cut its 2010 net loss to just $4.4 million.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board will follow the banking regulators and propose a rule next week that will give the agency oversight over executive compensation for the largest credit unions, those over $1 billion. The rule to be issued for public comment will bar bonuses and other compensation packages tied to risky activities–such as the ones NCUA alleges helped sink WesCorp FCU–and will require the big credit unions to disclose pay packages for all executive officers. That will include: president, chief executive officer, executive chairman, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief investment officer, chief lending officer, chief legal officer, chief risk officer, or head of a major business line. The proposed rule is required under provisions of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which seeks to rein in excessive Wall Street compensation that was found to be tied, in many cases, to risky activities that caused some of the biggest losses during the financial crisis. The FDIC proposed additional provisions on the biggest banks, those over $50 billion, which would require those firms hold on to at least half the bonuses paid to top executives for three or more years. There are about 175 credit unions over $1 billion in assets that the NCUA will would apply to. The proposed rule is supposed to be effective six months after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register, with annual reports due within 90 days of the end of each institution’s fiscal year. The other agency’s proposing the rule are the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Housing Finance Authority, the regulator for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board will follow the banking regulators and propose a rule next week that will give the agency oversight over executive compensation for the largest credit unions, those over $1 billion.

LENEXA, Kan. – CommunityAmerica CU paid its members a bonus dividend for 2010 of $1 million on Tuesday, double last year’s payout.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said this afternoon it is undecided whether it follow the banking agencies’ lead in proposing a new rule prohibiting incentive-based compensation deals that encourage big risk taking by management. The FDIC and the three other banking agencies, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision–all of whom drafted the rule with NCUA–issued the rule for public comment today. The NCUA Board is scheduled to be briefed on the proposal next week. The NCUA proposal would apply to all executive officers of large credit unions, the 175 institutions over $1 billion in assets. The proposed rule defines “executive officer” as a person who holds the title or performs the function of: president, chief executive officer, executive chairman, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief investment officer, chief lending officer, chief legal officer, chief risk officer, or head of a major business line. The proposed rule is required under provisions of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which seeks to rein in excessive Wall Street compensation that was found to be tied, in many cases, to risky activities that caused some of the biggest losses during the financial crisis. The FDIC proposed additional provisions on the biggest banks, those over $50 billion, which would require those firms hold on to at least half the bonuses paid to top executives for three or more years. But credit unions have also been tainted by allegations of risky behavior by bonus-seeking management. NCUA is suing executives of WesCorp FCU over claims the management of the one-time $34 billion corporate engage din risky activities to boost the corporate’s profits and earn big bonuses. The proposed rule is supposed to be effective six months after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register, with annual reports due within 90 days of the end of each covered financial institution’s fiscal year. The other agency’s proposing the rule are the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Housing Finance Authority, the regulator for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

CHICAGO – Alliant CU has landed in new markets with the completion of its acquisition of Continental FCU, the target of the unsuccessful 2007 hostile takeover which eventually cost members of the airline employees credit union a promised $5 million payout. Continental fended off a proposed 2007 takeover by Wings Financial CU in which the Minnesota credit union promised to pay out $5 million of Continental’s excessive capital to members after completion of the bid, which was noted for being the first non-consensual–or hostile-- merger offer among credit unions. But by the time Alliant, the one-time American Airlines employees credit union, completed its deal for Continental, losses had erased almost all of the smaller credit union’s capital and eliminated any chance of a merger dividend. The hostile offer by Wings Financial caused such a controversy in the credit union movement that the one-time Northwest Airlines employees credit union was forced to withdraw its offer and with it the promised $5 million member payout. As a result, Continental members ended up with nothing, with the credit union piling on additional losses since then that wiped out virtually all of its capital. Continental, a one-time $210 million credit union which serves employees of Continental Airlines and U.S. Airways, reported a $9.6 million loss for 2009 and a $9.3 million loss for 2010, as net worth declined to just $561,000 on $150 million in assets. The Continental deal will give $7.6 billion Alliant seven additional branches in Arizona, California, Texas and New Jersey, including facilities at George Bush Intercontinental and Newark International airports, in Houston and Newark, N.J., respectively.

COVINA, Calif.-Credit union CEOs received larger pay increases in 2010 than in 2009, a sign that the CU industry and the economy are recovering, reports Executive Compensation Solutions (ECS).

SAN FRANCISCO – NCUA and state regulators today closed Oakland Municipal CU and assigned the remnants of the one-time $130 million credit union to Western FCU, the $1.5 billion Manhattan Beach-based credit union. Oakland Municipal, the first credit union failure of the year, lost $4.9 million for 2009 and another $900,000 for 2010, and was inadequately capitalized. The credit union was chartered in 1936 by Oakland city employees and expanded to serve all residents of the city and of San Leandro.

SACRAMENTO – The Golden 1 CU, the nation’s sixth largest credit union, became the latest California credit union to erase losses, reporting today it went from a $23.1 million loss in 2009 to $76.1 million net in 2010, not counting a $15.8 million charge for NCUA assessments. The news is further evidence that the state’s credit union crisis is waning, with other California giants also moving from the red to the black in recent days. San Francisco’s Patelco CU went form a $14.6 million 2009 loss to a $24.6 million 2010 net; Kinecta FCU went from a $71.3 million 2009 loss to a $14.6 million 2010 net; Wescom Central CU from a $93.6 million loss to a $2.7 million net; North Island CU from a $52.4 million loss to an $11.4 million net; and Redwood CU from an $11.5 million loss for 2009 to a $6.1 million loss for 2010. Other Golden State credit unions moving from the red to the black last year were: AltaOne CU, and Schools Financial CU. Like the other credit unions, the Golden 1, the state’s second largest credit union, cut provisions for loan and lease losses–the amount moved to its allowance for loan losses for the entire year–by two thirds, from $126.2 million to $42.5 million, a sure signal that bad loans have been squeezed out of its balance sheet.

OREM, Utah – NCUA reported yesterday that continuing loan losses at Family First FCU erased all of the one-time $170 million credit union’s capital last year, leaving it with negative net worth of almost $13 million, the latest big Utah credit union to become insolvent.

SAN FRANCISCO — Mission SF Federal Credit Union says it needs $200,000 over the next two months to keep its doors open, and it is putting out feelers to potential investors.

LOS ANGELES — In a new sign of economic recovery, credit unions are moving tens of millions out of their loan loss reserves, enabling them to reduce red ink, and in some cases, move into the black.

LOS ANGELES – A growing number of troubled big credit unions are reporting positive income for 2010, while others are slashing losses, an indicator of an improving economy, especially in the so-called Sand States.

LOS ANGELES – In a new sign of economic recovery, credit unions are moving tens of millions out of their loan loss reserves, enabling them to reduce red ink, and in some cases, move into the black.

PASADENA, Calif. – In what poses at good news for both its members and the credit union movement as a whole which pays to resolve failed credit unions, Wescom CU reported net income for 2010 today of $2.7 million, its first profit since 2006. Wescom, which wracked up $198 million of losses in 2007-2009, is one of several large problem credit unions that are reporting profitable years for 2010 or big declines in losses, as massive charge-offs over the past three years have squeezed much of the bad loans out of the system. San Diego’s North Island Financial CU, which had a $52.4 million loss for 2009, also broke out of the red last year to the tune of an $11.5 million net. So did Schools Financial CU, which reported a $9.2 million 2009 loss, had a slim $1.1 million net for 2010. AltaOne FCU reported a $3.4 million net last year, after an $8.8 million loss for 2009. The improved financial performance by these California credit unions comes as an improving economy has allowed them to vastly reduce their loan loss provisions. Wescom CU, for example, cut its loan loss provisions in half to $47.5 million at year-end 2010. “I think in some sense they’re making the turn,” said Tun Wai, chief economist for NAFCU, who also cautioned that many barriers to profitability remain for credit unions heading into 2011, including anemic loan demand and the certainty of a NCUA assessments for both the corporate credit union bailout and a National CU Share Insurance Fund premium. Still, the early numbers coming out of some of the Sand States credit unions are promising. Desert Schools FCU, the Phoenix credit union giant that had an $81.3 million loss for 2009, trimmed its loan loss provisions by $56 million, helping cut losses to $18.9 million for 2010. Kern Schools FCU in Bakersfield, Calif., cut its losses from $406 million for 2008 to $12.8 million for 2010, after cutting its loan loss reserves in half to $27.5 million.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – New York’s largest credit union, ESL FCU, paid its members a year-end bonus last week of $7.25 million, the 15th consecutive payout for the $3.8 billion credit union.

Consumer confidence continues to slide for credit union members, both regarding the overall economy and their own finances, according to a new survey released last week by Discover Financial Services.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Members of PCM Employees CU received a $534,000 bonus to start of the new year as part of the credit union’s annual loan rebate.

MIDLAND, Mich. – Dow Chemical Employees CU paid members $5.7 million in rebates and rewards to celebrate the new year, one of the biggest payouts for 2010.