VIENNA, Va. – In light of the growing costs of the corporate credit union bailout, the nation’s largest credit union call for the elimination of the corporate system.

NORWALK, Conn. – Credit union observers around the country see yesterday’s action by the Financial Accounting Standards Board as easing some of the strains on credit unions, but too late to help others.

NORWALK, Conn. – Members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board conceded yesterday they had bowed to withering political lobbying in order to ease controversial mark-to-market rules to help the balance sheets of banks and credit unions.

NORWALK, Conn. – The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted several changes to its mark-to-market rules this morning to ease the strain on banks, credit unions and other financial institutions–but in a major blow rejected requests to allow the entities to apply the changes retroactively to their 2008 financials.

WESTBURY, N.Y. – Due to a typographical error an item in the March 31 edition of The CU Journal Daily Briefing incorrectly stated that North Shore LIJ Health System FCU, one of three Long Island credit unions negotiating the combination, has $7 million in assets. The correct figure is $57 million.

ONTARIO, Calif. – CU Direct Corp. announced it has embedded Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ e-learning content on automotive lending into its online training solution.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fidelity Information Systems, the provider of back-office services to credit unions and banks, announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire competitor Metavante Technologies in a stock-swap valued at $3 billion.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Corporate Synergies LLC, a CUSO developed by three corporate credit unions, said yesterday it has completed a successful core processing conversion at Virginia Corporate FCU, one of its owners.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Latino communities throughout Pennsylvania will soon be hearing on local radio about the benefits of joining a credit union as part of the Pennsylvania CU Association’s iBelong campaign.

MASSENA, N.Y. – SeaComm FCU said yesterday it has pledged $10,000 to help fund local food pantries.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolinas CU Foundation announced yesterday it is awarding a $15,000 Micro Community Grant to the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood to fund the Lucy’s Book Club Program.

FLORENCE, S.C. – A 72-year-old former loan director at Health Facilities FCU was sentenced to more than six years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the credit union.

BOSTON – Two men walked into the Tremont CU branch inside the Boston Teacher’s Union building yesterday morning and left a bag they said had a bomb on top of the counter, and used the threat to make off with more than $200,000.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees CU said it has helped more than 1,400 at-risk members keep their homes through its newly launched Mortgage Assistance Program.

MIRAMAR, Fla. – State regulators said yesterday they issued a cease and desist order against Eastern Financial Florida CU, the ailing credit union giant, for unsafe and unsound practices as it struggles to dig out from under the state’s growing mortgage crisis.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said yesterday credit unions should expense the premium it assesses to recapitalize the National CU Share Insurance Fund when the premium is assessed, probably in the fourth quarter of this year.

NORWALK, Conn. – After a withering lobby by banks and credit unions, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is expected this morning to approve new guidance changing aspects of controversial market-to-market accounting rules, but the changes may come too late for some credit unions, especially corporates.

WASHINGTON – A key congressional committee voted approval this morning to a credit card reform bill that would go much further than the new card rules adopted by the Federal Reserve in December and would go into effect much sooner.

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. – A former loan processor at an Appalachian Community FCU branch here was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for stealing $105,900 from the credit union.

COLORADO SPRINGS – Ent FCU, one of the best-run large credit unions, said yesterday that last week’s failure of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU will force it to take an additional $7 million charge against its 2008 earnings, wiping out 90% of its net income for the year and leaving it with a net of just $2.6 million.