Credit unions

DALLAS – Southwest Corporate FCU reported Friday additional losses on its investments will eat up more member capital for July.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Southeast Corporate FCU here reported an other-than-temporary-impairment charge of nearly $800,000 last month but was able to cover the losses with retained earnings, the credit union announced.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Audited financials for NCUA’s year-old Temporary Corporate CU Stabilization Fund shows the corporate bailout fund ended 2009 with liabilities of just under $7 billion, or almost $1 billion more than projected when the fund was created last year.

LAS VEGAS-Moving forward, corporates will need to focus on two things: effectiveness and efficiency. That's the view of Brad Miller, CEO of Southeast Corporate FCU in Tallahassee, Fla., and the former president of the Association of Corporate CUs for the past four years.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-Even asset managers who were predicting a decline in housing were stunned by the downturn that eventually ensnared corporate credit unions' balance sheets.

LOS ANGELES-A federal judge agreed to let NCUA assume the role of the plaintiff in a suit against directors and officers of WesCorp FCU, creating a strange case of the federal regulator as both plaintiff and defendant in the case.

CHICAGO – Credit union executives are strongly questioning whether they will reinvest in the corporate credit union system and many are exploring alternatives for investments, check processing and other services, as NCUA mulls over the fate of the corporates.

SALT LAKE CITY – A federal judge this week granted NCUA a requested 90-day stay in a suit filed over an alleged get-rich-quick real estate scheme financed by HeritageWest FCU, which was taken over and liquidated by NCUA in December.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The critical issue now for many credit unions, corporates and other observers is what form will the final NCUA corporate rule take, and when will NCUA release the overhaul to Part 704 of the FCU Act.

PHOENIX-It wasn't just the economy that chopped down some of the largest corporate credit unions. They can thank their desire to become large, and their lack of collaboration and competitiveness.

IRONDALE, Ala.-The failure of, and ongoing losses by, many of the corporate credit unions can be attributed to arrogance on the part of CEOs and boards from some of the biggest corporates, which played a role in the high concentrations in securities that contained risk, asserts Thomas Bonds.

WASHINGTON-While corporate credit unoins must accept their share of the blame for blindly investing their funds into US Central, which loaded up a significant portion of its mortgage investment portfolio with certain securities, it should be noted that natural-person CUs did the very same thing, reminded NAFCU President Fred Becker.

Among those who declined comment during the course of assembling interviews for this special report on corporate CUs were CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wis., which has built a large investments operation, and NCUA.

NEW YORK-The collapse of the housing market bubble is largely credited with creating most of the losses corporate credit unions, and their natural-person CU investors, have reported.

PHOENIX-There was no way to avoid being caught up in the mess, is how FirstCorp CU EVP and CIO Greg Harden summed up plight of most corporate credit unions.

WASHINGTON-Asset managers at corporate credit unions dutifully relied on past experience and rating agencies when buying securities during the bubble earlier this decade. But product innovation and a change in the mortgage market dynamic ultimately spelled disaster for many institutions, noted one analyst.

With most corporates operating with little to no capital, and with NCUA unveiling new rules later this year that many predict will lead to a "new business model" for corporates, in this issue Credit Union Journal asks, "How did we get here? What led to the corporate meltdown? Who is to blame, if anyone? And what could be ahead?"