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TMG Acquires Pioneer CU Portfolio

High Desert To Be Merged By June 30

GREENFIELD, Wis.-Two shared branching organizations in this state have merged, and are also becoming part of the larger, national Credit Union Service Centers (CUSC) network.

CUs CUDL Up With Kia In New Joint Venture

TIME.com featured credit unions in a piece headlined, "Bad Times for Banks Mean Boom Times for Credit Unions." The article included quotes from Ed Speed, CEO of Texas Dow Employees CU, documenting how its real estate lending has doubled and auto lending is up more than 40%. The article also noted how credit unions have avoided risky lending practices, saying they are now "having their turn in the sun after years of sticking to boring, old-fashioned banking practices." "In good times, you'd say these guys are much too conservative," says George Hofheimer, chief research officer the Filene Research Institute was quoted as saying. "But in times like these, it's just what the doctor ordered."

CO-OP Call Center Changes Name

When it comes to our primary corporate, our position is:

RALEIGH, N.C.-State Employees CU said its SECU Foundation has exceeded $20 million in college scholarships since its inception five years ago, making it one of the biggest higher education scholarship programs in the country.

DOTHAN, Ala.-The former CFO of Wiregrass FCU was charged with opening several unauthorized credit cards in her name and that of several relatives, and using the accounts to get cash advances and make purchases of more than $137,000. Becky Hughes was charged with misapplying funds between 2000 and 2008, while she was CFO of the $40 million CU. She was also charged with increasing the limit on her own card to $50,000 from $5,000 without authorization.

LANSING, Mich.-The $1.6-billion Lake Michigan Credit Union is reportedly considering the purchase of a bank's assets in the state after state regulators enacted new regulations that will allow state-chartered credit unions to acquire assets and assume liabilities, including deposits, of ailing banks and thrifts. The power is already available for federally chartered credit unions and other non-credit unions. The new powers were prompted by a request to the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation by Lake Michigan CU in December.

NEWARK, N.J.-A federal bankruptcy court ordered that CU National Mortgage/US Mortgage turn over any and all funds belonging to Picatinny FCU that the $220-million credit union claims the failed mortgage servicer has been illegally withholding from it. The court also ordered that CU National transfer millions of dollars of Picatinny mortgages it has been servicing to a new servicer, CUMAnet.

DEI Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, announced that Judy Dilts and Erin Jackson have become LEED certified.

Comment

WASHINGTON-Congress was poised last week to introduce yet another bill that would raise the limits on member business loans from those set 11 years ago, as part of HR 1151, the CU Membership Access Act.

WASHINGTON-Regulators closed three more banks last week in Georgia, Colorado and Kansas, bringing to 20 the number of bank failures so far this year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said last week it approved just nine mergers last month-less than half the normal monthly average-all but one of them involving a credit union that reported losses for last year.

WASHINGTON-NCUA is asking Congress for vast new authority to prevent a further meltdown of the credit union system.

Credit Union Journal encourages reader feedback. Letters to the Editor can be sent to Lisa Freeman at lfreeman@cujournal. com, or submitted online at www.cujournal.com. Readers can also share their thoughts and read those of others at www.cusoapbox.com.

With the credit crisis and market turmoil, a lot of media talk - both financial and general - has centered on the debate over mark-to-market accounting rules; in particular, the Financial Accounting Standards Board's SFAS 115 and the Emerging Issues Task Force's EITF 99-20.