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MIAMI – State regulators have approved an emergency merger of troubled Mount Sinai FCU into neighboring People CU.

NEW BERLIN, Wis. – Landmark CU announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire four smaller credit unions, including two troubled institutions, Allco CU and First Security CU.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa Inc. said it will prepay $682 million to U.S. merchants to complete a settlement of a 2003 antitrust case, paying early to get a discount from the $800 million it had owed through 2012.

HONOLULU – Aloha Pacific FCU said it will acquire tiny First Insurance FCU, its second merger since December.

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – E1 Financial CU said its members have approved the merger of the ailing $350 million credit union into nearby NuVision FCU, creating a $1.2 billion credit union.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Fast-growing Empower FCU has been approved by NCUA to acquire Telco FCU, based in nearby Elmira, N.Y., its third merger in the past two years.

TAMPA, Fla. – GTE FCU is closing three of its branches, as it works to weather the state’s economic downturn.

OAKLAND, Calif. – NCUA last night it and state regulators took over troubled Kaiser Lakeside FCU and assigned the remnants of the one-time $45 million credit union to SafeAmerica CU, a $315 million institution nearby Pleasanton, Calif., the latest in a growing list of failed credit unions in California.

WASHINGTON – CUNA reported yesterday the final red ink for 2008 was just less than $8 million.

WASHINGTON – The FDIC on Friday seized three more troubled banks, making a total of 84 failures through the first eight months of the year.

PHILADELPHIA – NCUA on Friday took over Free Choice FCU and sold the remnants of the failed credit union to Trumark Financial CU.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-State regulators said the second quarter saw a continued increase in loan delinquencies and loan losses and of troubled institutions among California's CUs.

BOSTON-State regulators are saying new and constantly revised regulations that are compelling many smaller credit unions to merge with larger institutions are out of their hands.

LAS VEGAS-During the African-American Credit Union Council annual conference here, Credit Union Journal asked attendees where they think the economy is headed.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Data released by NCUA last week showed that loan growth for the second quarter was less than 0.1%, while shares continued to grow at a strong 1.5% rate, as consumers hoarded savings amid the economic downturn.

MADISON, Wis.-The simple fact is credit unions seeking to reverse stagnant or even declining growth must go back and "work the street," according to a new study.

MADISON, Wis.-Credit union leaders, more than half of whom in an online poll are projecting flat to moderate growth in 2010, have been provided with some ideas on improving those projections.

WASHINGTON – The number of troubled banks surged to 416, the highest since 1993 in the second quarter, while assets held by those banks also soared 36% to $300 billion, the FDIC reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON – The FDIC, saddled with soaring losses on failed banks, approved rules yesterday to make it easier for private-equity firms to buy failed banks.

WASHINGTON – The nation’s thrifts eked out a $4 million profit in the second quarter as the number of troubled institutions continued to grow.