Credit unions

The credit union tapped Kenneth Orgeron, its chief operating officer, to serve as acting CEO.

Three credit unions have announced deals to acquire community banks in the past week. The latest is the Wisconsin-based Royal, which is buying the $441 million-asset Lake Area Bank.

Board diversity is one of the reasons that credit unions outperform banks in hiring women for the role of chief executive. “It starts at the top," says Jan Page, president and CEO of Community South Credit Union in Florida.

The combination of Orion Federal Credit Union and Financial Federal Bank is the seventh credit union-bank merger announced this year.

The credit union has promoted Michael Crowl, the organization’s executive vice president of member experience, to be its first president.

Despite clear evidence to the contrary, the mortgage insurer continues to insist that credit unions have the same risk profile as nonbank lenders. It’s now threatening to exclude nearly a quarter of credit unions from being qualified issuers of the securities it backs.

Tom Young is stepping down as president and CEO of the Green Bay, Wisconsin, credit union. His successor has not yet been named.

The $1.5 billion-asset SAFE FCU in Sumter, South Carolina, is combining with the $3 million-asset Sumter City Credit Union.

David Willis, the Oklahoma City credit union’s co-president and chief operations officer, has been selected as Kloiber’s successor and will take the helm on Sept. 1.

Local financial institutions have fewer branches than big banks, and closing even one location makes it harder for them to serve their communities.