UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – Fast-growing Randolph-Brooks FCU plans to open seven new branches in the next two years.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Generations Community CU has agreed to sell its 70-year-old office building, the city’s former train station, to VIA Metropolitan Transit, which plans to build a new bus depot out of the historic structure.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said it has adding numerous disclosures to its 5300 Call Reports for the fourth quarter that will reflect each credit union’s payment for costs associated with the National CU Share Insurance Fund premium and the corporate credit union stabilization.

BEAUMONT, Texas – The former president of Orange County Employees FCU was charged last week with stealing $1.2 million from credit union, causing the failure of the one-time $4 million credit union earlier this year, the latest in a growing list of fraud-related failures.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Joseph Herbst, who had a key role in the failures of both U.S. Central FCU and Members United Corporate FCU, emerged last week after being hired as new CEO for CUMAnet, a mortgage lending CUSO based here.

LOS ANGELES – In a pleading that could have broad ramifications for officers and directors of failed corporate credit unions, NCUA told a federal court here that directors and officers of WesCorp FCU abandoned their roles as fiduciaries of a not-for-profit credit union by pursuing ever increasing profits for the failed one-time $34 billion corporate.

BEAVERTON, Ore. – Members of First Tech CU overwhelmingly approved the merger of the $2.3 billion credit union with Addison Avenue FCU, the credit union for Hewlett-Packard and hundreds of Silicon Valley companies, in the biggest credit union merger ever, the two credit unions announced this afternoon.

WASHINGTON – CUNA, which has been steadily increased its campaign spending the past 20 years to establish its political action committee as one of the most active in Washington, reported yesterday that its campaign spending and fundraising actually declined markedly for the just-completed mid-term elections.

CINCINNATI – Fifth Third Bank has agreed to pay $9.5 million in a proposed settlement with customers who claimed they were improperly charged overdraft fees for insufficient funds on debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals.

SAN DIEGO -- Thieves attempted to steal Cabrillo CU ATM in Scripps Ranch early Thursday by ramming a stolen U-Haul truck against it but ran off on foot when the vehicle became stuck, according to police.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Mission FCU has signed with Fiserv to implement the company’s Portico account processing solution and several other services.

MADISON, Wis. – CUNA Mutual Group said yesterday it has signed with WNC Insurance Services to expand its collateral protection offerings to help credit unions cover real estate lending risks.

DULUTH, Minn. Members Cooperative CU has become the latest credit union to offer members tax deductible Health Savings Accounts.

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia CU has installed Code Green's new, interactive RateCast "loan calculation slider" to its website.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Telesis Community CU, which has encountered problems on its nationwide member business loan portfolio, filed foreclosure papers this week on a mixed-use office building in the city’s South Main Historic Arts District, its second try to seize the financially troubled property.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates moved higher again this week, for the third straight week, according to Freddie Mac.

MADISON, Wis. – In what is turning out to be one of the poorest years on record for lending among credit unions, loan portfolios declined another 0.2% in October, meaning total credit union loans have fallen by almost 1.2% for the first ten months of the year, according to CUNA.

SALT LAKE CITY – NCUA and state regulators continue to shop Beehive CU, even as they conceded the one-time $200 million credit union has failed and will cost the National CU Share Insurance Fund more than $25 million to resolve.

YUMA, Ariz. – In the latest scandal surrounding member business lending, the ex-head of business services at troubled AEA FCU was indicted yesterday on charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering in a scheme by which he and his wife allegedly earned a house and new cars as kickbacks on loans approved for a local businessman.

WASHINGTON – Previously secret documents released by the Federal Reserve yesterday show that U.S. Central was a major beneficiary of the Central Bank’s emergency Term Auction Facility beginning in August 2008, just as the corporate credit union giant was teetering.