INDIANAPOLIS – The former head teller at now-defunct Obelisk FCU on Friday pleaded guilty to stuffing her pockets with wads of $100 bills for four years – stealing a total of $7 million – to feed her gambling habit, pushing the 37-year-old credit union into bankruptcy.

MIRAMAR, Fla. - Growing losses on exotic mortgage-backed securities have forced Eastern Financial Florida CU to submit new financials to NCUA showing even larger record losses for 2007 of $68.9 million.

HOUSTON - Credit unions in Texas are seeking to reach a new level of “consciousness” with legislators, including joining the personal video revolution as a way of getting their members’ faces in front of lawmakers.

SAN DIEGO - More California credit unions, large and small, are reporting losses for the first quarter of 2008, what some are calling “collateral damage” from the subprime meltdown.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Hundreds of credit unions who have PSCU Financial Services process their Visa transactions will be getting checks totaling $20.5 million next month as a result of the Visa initial public offering last month.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The American people are getting increasingly frustrated.

CUNA Mutual, OPEIU OK New Four-Year Contract

OMAHA, Neb. - The company that owns the failed Great Adventures Water Resort filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving its lender, hard-pressed Centris CU, potentially holding the bag for millions of dollars in losses.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Credit Union Economists Group (CUEG) met with officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to discuss issues affecting CUs.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey proudly displays the Texas hat and western chaps given him by Pete Gooch, president of the Texas League, during CUNA International's annual meeting in Dallas. Humphrey praised credit union efforts to help the common man in low-income areas both at home and overseas. He called credit unions part of the "people power" which is helping people everywhere to win economic as well as political freedom. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

DENVER - The federal bankruptcy court approved a Chapter 11 reorganization of failed subprime auto lender Centrix Financial last week, taking the next step toward recovering millions of dollars in unsecured claims by dozens of credit unions.

WASHINGTON - A representative of CUNA Mutual Group at a recent House Financial Services Committee meeting on the Treasury Blueprint for regulatory reform endorsed the concept of a national charter for insurance companies, which has been kicking around Congress for a decade, saying uniform national standards would save both it and its policyholders significant money and be much simpler than the current state-by-state system of regulation. U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) introduced a bill to create a federal regulatory structure to be overseen by the Treasury Department. Such a national office, he said, is one of the major provisions of the recently introduced Treasury Blueprint. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

At press time, the number of co-sponsors on the CURIA bill. 218 are needed to have a majority. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Calif. League Backed Bill Passes

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. - For many credit unions, signing 11 net new members in a year would be a cause for concern. For 360 Federal Credit Union, it’s a cause for celebration.

SAN DIEGO - Two mergers of large credit unions have rocked the Southern California market with the general conclusion that size, apparently, does matter.

ODESSA, Texas - Members seeking to recall directors involved in the failed conversion of First Basin CU to bank were surprised to find they wouldn’t be told which three directors were up for reelection at last week’s annual meeting until immediately before the ballot.

Notes from the road, from Lindbergh Field to Lindbergh Terminal, from cars to bikes...

Southwest Corp Goes International

Credit unions for the most part have had limited success in convincing members that they are a viable option for mortgage loans, and nationally credit unions still have less than 2% of the mortgage origination marketplace. Well, that’s about to change!