Comment

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA has added several disclosures to its 5300 Call Report to show the expenses they accrued related to the $5 billion corporate bailout.

WASHINGTON-Lawmakers introduced a bill to create a new body that would have the final say on accounting standards, including requests to suspend controversial rules on fair value accounting, known as mark-to-market.

DENVER-One of 19 credit unions that were paid pennies on the dollar on the loan participations it held with Norlarco CU is asking a federal court to order NCUA to pay an additional $10.2 million in order to fulfill the participation agreement.

MARCH

NEW YORK-CashEdge Inc., a provider of "Intelligent Money Movement" products, reported during 2008 it processed nearly $50 billion in online transfers, a 32% increase over 2007 volume. It said it also saw a 30% growth in the number of end-users accessing its services, indicating growth in user demand for online funds transfer services.

National CU Foundation's Delfin Blogging

ATLANTA-CNNMoney.com recently polled its readers for their view on where is the safest place to put their savings. Credit unions were ranked No. 1 at 51%, ahead of other tpes of banks.

NEW LONDON, Conn.-NCUA has filed a claim in probate court against the estate of an elderly investment broker for New London Security FCU who leaped to his death last July, just before regulators were closing in on his apparent fraud that sunk the $13 million institution.

DALLAS — Back in 1977, Jody Beck didn't even know what a credit union was.

TAMPA, Fla. – Ed Gallagley, the well-known advocate for low-income credit union services as president of Florida Central CU, died March 28 of liver cancer, at 72.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The former president of Plainwell Community CU was jailed Friday for almost four years after his conviction of a $1.3 million embezzlement that killed the $15 million credit union.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The president of defunct Wichita Falls TexDot CU was sentenced Friday to almost six years in prison for embezzling as much as $3.2 million from the credit union, which at its height had $5.2 million in assets.

NEW YORK – Austin Siedentopf, one of the hosts of credit union-funded Biz Kid$ TV series, and CUNA President Dan Mica, will president over the closing bell of the Nasdaq stock market today in Times Square.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Twelve Illinois credit unions agreed last week to buy $100 million of bonds issued by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to finance low-interest, federally secured loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program to Illinois students and their families.

KEY WEST, Fla. – Keys FCU, which lost $1.8 million in 2008, said it trimmed its staff by an undisclosed amount, including its well-known vice president Charlie Bickford.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Altura Credit Union, which posted a $6.1-million loss in 2008, said it will shutter two branches and convert a third to an electronic branch, in the process cutting 35 jobs, or 15% of its workforce.Overall, the $958-million Altura CU has also chosen not to fill an additional 27 open positions over the past 12 months. The total number of eliminated and unfilled positions represents 20% of Altura’s staff.Mark Hawkins, Altura’s president and CEO, told Credit Union Journal the troubles in the regional economy have led to hardships for the credit union, but the recent special assessment from NCUA to bolster the corporate credit unions followed by the conservatorship of San Dimas-Calif.-based WesCorp have proven to be too much to handle without making reductions. “This has been tough,” he said. “Our area certainly has had its challenges during the economic downturn. The final straw was having to pay the NCUSIF and the corporates. We will have to pay more than $9 million, and that is on top of our loan losses. We sat down and looked at those branches we could live without, and those positions that were not absolutely critical to our moving forward.”Sixteen branch positions and 19 positions at Altura’s headquarters were eliminated as part of the downsizing. In an effort to minimize layoffs, Altura said it has implemented a series of cost-cutting measures. These include reducing benefits and compensation for all employees, including the senior management team. “Just like our members, every one of us is having to sacrifice during this economic downturn,” Hawkins said.

WASHINGTON – A top executive with the Federal Home Loan Banks’ regulator said he resigned last month because he was no longer confident the 12 regional banks were properly valuing their mortgage-backed securities, which have been marked down by billions of dollars.

WASHINGTON – NCUA Chairman Michael Fryzel visited top lawmakers in the House and Senate Friday to kick off a push for a new corporate credit union bailout fund.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A growing consensus of credit union executives and volunteers is calling on NCUA to scrap the three-tiered credit union system by liquidating U.S. Central FCU and consolidating the 26 other corporate credit unions into as few as three regional corporates.