WASHINGTON – Financial regulators are expected to introduce rules as soon as this week that would require mortgage borrowers to have down payments of at least 20% in order to qualify for a federal guarantee, that is, have their loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A recent spate of news coverage disclosing million-dollar pay packages at credit unions has prompted state regulators to take a new look at the compensation of credit union managers.

HONOLULU — Several branches of credit unions that remained closed this morning as large waves were reported heading for the Hawaiian Islands have reopened.

TAMPA, Fla. — Card Services for Credit Unions will host a free webcast on the interchange updates: "Managing Your Debit Card Program Into the Future," on March 23rd at 2pm ET.

CLEVELAND – NCUA alleged this week that St. Paul Croatian FCU, the one-time $240 million credit union liquidated last year, helped finance an $8 million real estate Ponzi scheme that bilked dozens of parishioners at St. Paul Croatian Church here. Documents filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court indicate the credit union, along with Fifth Third Bancorp of Cincinnati and JP Morgan Chase were the major lenders for Integrity Financial AZ, LLC which raised millions of dollars in 2008 and 2009 to purportedly fund speculative real estate developments in Tonopah, Arizona, a town 55 miles west of Phoenix. Authorities have filed criminal and civil complaints against the company claiming it was a so-called Ponzi scheme in which early investors–most of them parishioners at St. Paul Croatian Church-- were paid returns from later investors to make it appear the scheme was paying off. NCUA claims the scheme was partially funded by the credit union, one of the biggest failures in recent years, and that Stanley Paulic, one of the main partners of Integrity Financial, still owes the estate of the failed credit union $1.2 million in unpaid loans. NCUA has asked the bankruptcy court to reject a bid to dismiss the credit union loans as part of Paulic’s Chapter 7 filing. The allegations are the latest involving St. Paul Croatian, which NCUA estimates will cost the National CU Share Insurance Fund $170 million in losses, one of the insurance fund’s biggest losses ever. Last week nine individuals, including the credit union’s CEO Anthony Raquez was charged in a federal indictment with accepting $500,000 in kickbacks in exchange for approving millions of dollars in loans they had no intentions of repaying. Eight other individuals, including a purported international crime figure, Koljo Nikolovski, Nikolovski’s wife and nephew, were charged with taking out the loans. Authorities said Koljo Nikolovski wired millions of dollars from the loans to bank accounts in Skopje, Macedonia, which have yet to be recovered.CLEVELAND – NCUA alleged this week that St. Paul Croatian FCU, the one-time $240 million credit union liquidated last year, helped finance an $8 million real estate Ponzi scheme that bilked dozens of parishioners at St. Paul Croatian Church here.

SANTA FE, N.M. – The $570 million Kirtland FCU and $1 billion New Mexico Educators CU have disaffiliated from the Credit Union Association of New Mexico and CUNA.

ATLANTA – Back-office service provider S1 Corp. reported a $4.3 million loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, caused by a 12% decline in revenues for the quarter. That compares to a $10 million net for the fourth quarter of 2009.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A husband and wife who claim to have robbed a dozen credit unions and banks across the country two years ago, netting just $30,000, this week were sentenced to prison for heists of two credit unions and one bank.

FARMINGVILLE, N.Y. – Teachers FCU will award $1,000 scholarships this year to six high school seniors who plan to continue their education.

MIDLAND, Mich. – Members First CU granted $100 grants to more than 40 teachers in grades kindergarten through 12.

WALTHAM, Mass. – RTN FCU said it signed with AnyHour Solutions to implement the company’s contact center services.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Greater Springfield CU has signed with Share One to implement the company’s NewSolutions from Share One as its new data processing solution.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged in the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edging slightly upward, according to Freddie Mac.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Three men were charged Wednesday with a Feb. 28 robbery of AmeriChoice FCU, when $138,500 was taken and employees were locked inside the vault.

LAS VEGAS – Silver State Schools CU, the nation’s largest privately insured credit union, said yesterday while it continued to lose money in the fourth quarter, the rate of losses slowed, allowing it to cut red ink from $50.9 million for 2009 to $21.4 million for 2010.

WASHINGTON – Senator Dick Durbin insisted yesterday he will fight every effort to delay the pending implementation of his initiative to lower interchange fees paid to credit unions and banks.

LAS VEGAS – Silver State Schools CU, the nation’s largest privately insured credit union run under a state supervisory agreement for the past year, announced this morning that it reduced its losses while rebuilding net worth last year. The annual financial report says the one-time $1 billion credit union had a loss of $21.4 million for 2010, down from a $50.9 million 2009 loss; and net worth increased from just 2.4% at year-end 2009 to 4.3% at year-end 2010. Assets declined to just $718 million at Dec. 31. The credit union, insured by ASI, the last surviving private insurer for credit unions, has been operating under a strict supervisory agreement with state regulators, and a $22 million assistance from ASI.. By the end of the year, Silver State had paid back about $6 million of the assistance. Officials with the credit union, once Nevada’s largest, were not immediately available to comment.LAS VEGAS – Silver State Schools CU, the nation’s largest privately insured credit union run under a state supervisory agreement for the past year, announced this morning that it reduced its losses while rebuilding net worth last year.

CONYERS, Ga. – A man who robbed a Georgia’s Own CU branch yesterday afternoon was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase then getting into a shootout just after 4 p.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Students in sixth through eighth grade have the chance to enter the fifth annual Money Smart Kid Essay Contest, sponsored by the Iowa CU Foundation and the Iowa Bankers Association, and compete for $1,000 to help boost their college savings.

BETHESDA, Md. – National Institutes of Health FCU has agreed to design and build a children’s playground at the Children’s Inn at NIH.