ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said this afternoon after the sale of U.S. Central FCU’s electronic banking services to CO-OP Financial Services it will move forward with plans for an orderly wind-down of the other U.S. Central services in 2012.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame FCU, one of the biggest credit union student lenders, announced this afternoon it is now offering private student loan consolidations.

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge issued a ruling this morning suggesting that the statute of limitations may have expired on NCUA’s claims that Wall Street banks sold mortgage-backed securities they knew were faulty to corporate credit unions, potentially rendering NCUA suits filed earlier this year moot.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU completed its second annual campaign to provide 5,000 holiday gift boxes for North Carolina’s National Guard and Reservists deployed worldwide.

MADISON, Wis. – Capital CU’s dollar-for-dollar match day at the red kettles on Dec. 9 yielded a total of $57,240 for the Salvation Army-Fox Cities.

FORT LEWIS, Wash. – America’s CU has relocated its Lacey branch into a former Citizens Bank office.

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Texas Dow Employees CU picked up two more Houston-area branches in Pasadena with completion of the acquisition of $60 million San Jacinto Area CU.

MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin CU rolled out a fixed-rate private student loan for college students, adding to its variable-rate student loan.

MISSOULA, Mont. – A man sentenced to federal prison for a 2009 armed robbery at Missoula FCU also will serve a state term for the same crime.

LIBERTY, S.C. – Pickens FCU is offering loans of up to $1,200 to Liberty Denim employees who lost their jobs last week.

MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Bank on Wednesday said its Elan Financial Services, one of the largest agent issuer credit card banks, bought a $700 million portfolio of credit card accounts in the name of 28 credit unions and banks from Bank of America, which is exiting the business.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – More than 100 members of IBM Southeast Employees FCU, most of them IBM retirees, have reached a settlement of a class action suit claiming the credit union is responsible for more than $10 million they lost when a third-party investment broker hired by the credit union sold them what turned out to be bonds backed by a fraud.

EL PASO, Texas – GECU, the former Government Employees CU, said this afternoon that Harriet May is retiring as CEO of the $1.8 billion credit union and will be succeeded by Crystal Long, its chief operations officer.

MARIETTA, Ga. – Union workers at LGE Community CU, the former Lockheed Georgia Government Employees CU, agreed to a new contract with the credit union and returned to work yesterday, ending a rare credit union strike.

AUSTIN, Texas – Volunteer staff and members of Amplify CU spent last weekend renovating a local home as part of the local newspaper’s annual Season for Caring campaign, which helps 10 featured families and hundreds of others served by local nonprofit agencies.

JANESVILLE, Wis. – Blackhawk Community CU donated $10,000 throughout the communities in Southeastern Wisconsin with its “Holiday Spirit – Pass It On” initiative.

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Kinecta FCU said it relocated its Midwest mortgage operations center from Rosemont, Ill., to Chicago.

HARTFORD, Conn. – Nutmeg State FCU gave one person a two-minute run to collect all the groceries they want at a Price Shopper store to celebrate the opening of the credit union’s new branch there.

WASHINGTON – CUNA on Tuesday said its political action committee raised $105,000 last month and spent $94,000, leaving it with a new high of $640,000 of available cash heading into the election year.

HARTFORD, Conn. – A 21-year-old New York woman on Monday pleaded guilty to her role in an ATM skimming scheme that hit 11 banks and credit unions across southern New England.