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DAVENPORT, Iowa – A state court ruled last week that IH Mississippi Valley CU is not liable for damages for a failed condominium project for which it had made a multi-million dollar member business loan.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Well-known developer John Beardsley put the company that owns the historic U.S. National Bank building and two other downtown properties into bankruptcy Friday in order to prevent a foreclosure on the properties by California’s Telesis Community CU, the company’s largest lender.

LAS VEGAS – Officials with troubled WesStar CU, which serves the city’s ailing casino industry, was replaced last week amid growing losses for the credit union, which bills itself as "The Gaming Employees Credit Union."

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — Why would NCUA sell a failed credit union in Reno, Nev., to a credit union 1,996 miles away in Michigan?

RENO, Nev. — After some nine months of agonizing over how to save Clear Star Financial CU, employees of the once-$175-million CU went from the agony of uncertainty, to certain catastrophe, to the joy of salvation in just one roller coaster of a day.

LAS VEGAS – Cumorah CU, saddled with growing losses, said its long-time CEO Tony Mook has resigned and been replaced by Paul Simons, a work-out specialist.

MINNEAPOLIS – A top NCUA official told state lawmakers this week that credit unions have few of the risky holdings that are troubling banks, even as state regulators reported the number of credit unions on its "watch list" of problem institutions has risen to 21, out of a total of 94 state charters.

DALLAS – Credit union executives expressed rising optimism for the near-term for the second quarter in a row in Southwest Corporate FCU’s quarterly Credit Union CEO Confidence Survey.

WASHINGTON – Credit union representatives will join the bankers before Congress this morning in opposition to a new bid that could lead to government regulation of the market for credit card interchange fees.

TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Dorety, CEO of the $5.8-billion Suncoast Schools FCU in Tampa, Fla., and a member of the CUNA board, is hopeful there will be more choices regarding capital in credit unions' future.

FOREST GROVE, Ore. — For the first time in eight years, credit union full-time equivalent (FTE) employee growth has not exceeded member growth.

LAKE BLUFF, Ill. — Mike Moebs, CEO of Moebs $ervices, believes that the NAFCU and CUNA effort on supplemental capital does not go far enough.

SAN DIEGO — Is the recession over? The Conference Board has stated it is. Fed Chief Ben Bernanke has said publicly the recession is technically over, and the stock markets and Wall Street are seeing signs of life. But what about Main Street?

MARSHFIELD, Wis. — A push by CUNA and NAFCU for member-only alternative (or supplemental) capital may be what's feasible today, but it could simply be a bridge to a solution to the capital dilemma that relies on many additional investment sources for CUs to thrive.

WASHINGTON–CUNA said yesterday it would join a call by NAFCU to lobby for greater access to alternative capital for credit unions. CUNA reported it will join the federal credit unions’ trade group to push for “member-only alternative capital at this time.”
In a statement, CUNA said it continues to “insist that alternative capital proposals should encompass as many options as possible to help more credit unions,” and that “broader access for credit unions to capital, and the ability of credit unions to determine for themselves, based on their needs and membership, whether that capital should come strictly from membership or other sources.”CUNA made its comments in a memo to NAFCU about alternative capital legislative proposals, stressing that “the need of a number of credit unions for alternative capital is real and immediate.”
CUNA is calling for the legislative proposals on alternative capital to be modified to include a number of additional sources for credit unions, including government assistance, other credit unions, CU sponsors and select employee groups, and others. It also is urging changes be made to Prompt Corrective Action (PCA rules). On Friday, Sept. 25, NAFCU called on CUNA to support draft language for a bill to authorize all credit unions to raise alternative capital from existing members, with several conditions.Over the weekend, NAFCU President Fred Becker told Credit Union Journal the industry is exploring several legislative avenues to boost credit union capital, which could also include enactment of risk-based capital, a solution that has eluded credit unions for the past decade. Becker said at that time that NAFCU was seeking to arrive at a consensus with CUNA, before asking for NCUA’s support.

KEY WEST, Fla. – In an unusual regulatory response, NCUA said Friday it was asked by the board of Keys FCU to take the ailing $180 million credit union under federal conservatorship.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said last week that various stress tests applied to the credit union system supported its decision to assess a $1.1 billion premium on federally insured credit unions this year and points to the potential for additional charges through at least next year.

ATLANTA – The FDIC on Friday seized $2 billion Georgian Bank, the 19th bank to fail in Georgia so far this year.

RENO, Nev. – In a scenario playing itself out across the so-called Sand States, poorly performing real estate loans combined with losses accrued from the corporate credit union system helped push Clearstar Financial CU over the brink last week.

WASHINGTON – Credit union leaders are trying to resolve long-time divisions in the movement over alternative capital sources in order to seek a legislative fix for the diminishing capital in the credit union system.