Few people likely noticed, but two pieces of world history and credit unions intersected last week like bookends of the Cold War.

SEATTLE – Sound Community Bank, known until 2003 as The Credit Union of the Pacific, said Friday it plans to raise as much as $16 million with an initial public offering. The former credit union plans to float 45% of a holding company called Sound Financial Inc. (for Puget Sound, its home base), and retain a controlling 55% stake, the initial step of a two-step offering. The offering will be underwritten by Keefe Bruyette Woods and managed by Silver, Freedman & Taff, the Washington law firm that specializes in credit union conversions. The shares of the $230 million credit union-turned-bank are expected to debut on the Nasdaq at $10 each.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman who favors high fashion accessories is being sought in the recent robberies at two local credit unions and one bank. The suspect, shown on surveillance videos carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag, and a Coach purse in another, apparently struck twice last week; first Tuesday at Community First CU, then Thursday at Omni Community CU. The string of robberies apparently began on August 30 when the suspect held-up First Coast Community Bank and made off with $5,000.

JANESVILLE, Wis. – As many as two dozen accounts at Blackhawk Community CU may have been accessed by unauthorized users who obtained the numbers and PINs from ‘skimmers’. Members reported unauthorized transactions on their accounts in the Chicago suburbs, at Wal-Marts and gas stations. Officials are not clear when the skimming took place, but they believe it occurred early in the summer, in June or July. Skimming is when a third party uses a device attached to a point-of-sale, often a gas pump, that secretly records a user’s credit or debit card number and PIN. Credit union officials said they reimbursed the affected members for the unauthorized transactions.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Three family members and an alleged accomplice were indicted by a federal grand jury last week on charges they planned to detonate a pipe bomb at a local elementary school last month in order to divert police while they robbed a branch of Founders FCU. The four men were captured just hours before the robbery was supposed to occur while they were sleeping in a vacant house, where police found explosive devices. Charged were: Timothy Eddington, 35, his son Steven Eddington, 18, and his nephew William Puckett, 19, along with a family acquaintance Edgar Williams, 19.

BURBANK, Calif. – Sixteen teachers named top educators in Los Angeles County Friday were each rewarded with $1,000 from California CU, co-sponsors of the county’s annual Teachers of the Year awards. The county contest qualifies the local educators for the state’s annual Teacher of the Year competition later this fall. The top teachers were also given framed certificates at a ceremony held by the Los Angeles County Office of Education at the Hilton Hotel in Universal City.

DALLAS – The Credit Union of Texas said last week it had provided a $15,000 grant to the Dallas County Community College District, which will be used to finance student and marketing initiatives for the district’s teacher education programs. During a ceremony last week, a representative from the district presented credit union president John Lederer with a crystal apple as a symbol of gratitude for the support of the $1.5 billion credit union, formerly known as Dallas Teachers CU. During the ceremony, representatives from the district’s seven colleges received sponsorship banners from the credit union.

MANTEO, N.C. – Representatives of North Carolina State Employees CU are talking with Dare County officials to expand the giant credit union’s affordable housing program for teachers, piloted in nearby Hertford County earlier this year. A local project, endorsed last week by the Dare County Board of Commissioners, would use a grant from the SECU Foundation to provide apartments at below-market rents to public school teachers. The SECU Foundation provided a $2 million no-interest loan to the nearby Hertford County Board of Education earlier this year to build a 24 apartments of affordable housing for public school teachers in one of the poorest enclaves in the state. The SECU Foundation has introduced a uniform construction plan for the affordable apartments and wants to implement it statewide. The Dare County initiative would include a grant of $2 million or $3 million from the Foundation, which would be used to build as many as five buildings of eight units each, two in Hatteras and three in Kill Devil Hills. In just three years of existence the SECU Foundation has become the largest non-government donor to North Carolina education by virtue of its $7 million annual scholarship program which endows every state-run college in the Tar Heel State.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Technology CU became the latest credit union to offer its members access to their accounts and transaction ability over cell phones and other mobile devices. The new service, offered through MShift, will allow members of the $1.2 billion credit union to use many of the features provided through the credit union’s online banking platform, including funds transfers, viewing and paying bills, and communicating via email with the credit union. Tech CU Mobile Banking uses Wireless Transport Layer Security protocol, which provides strict authentication, data integrity and privacy protection mechanisms that protect communication from attack during transmission.

BATON ROUGE, La. – A member of KeyPoint FCU was convicted last week of a business loan fraud that enabled her to obtain almost $3 million in federally guaranteed loans allotted to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Prosecutors said Keryn Goynes, 48, lied when she told credit union representatives she had been approved for a $1.5 million Small Business Administration loan in order to help secure a $410,000 loan from the credit union. Goynes also pretended to be an SBA employee, falsifying an SBA ‘Mortgage Loan Commitment’ and an SBA ‘Unconditional Guarantee,’ which were presented to the credit union as part of the loan process. Goynes later used the same scheme to secure a $2.5 million loan from American Gateway Bank. Goynes pleaded guilty to three charges of making false statements to a federal credit union or bank and faces up to 30 years in prison when she is sentenced.

McLEAN, Va. – Long-term mortgage rates changed little this week after the Federal Reserve cut the target for its short-term Fed Funds rate, according to Freddie Mac. The average for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan rose slightly to 6.34% this week, from 6.31% last week; while the average for a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage moved to 5.98%, from 5.97% last week. ARM rates also were steady, with the average for a one-year ARM inching down to 5.65%, from 5.66% last week; and the average for a five-year ARM moving to 6.21%, from 6.17%. "In addition to bringing down short-term interest rates, the (Fed) cut should also dissipate some of the volatility in short-term interest rates we observed earlier," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. "Mortgage rates were largely unchanged in the previous week, with long-term rates lingering at lower levels not seen since May," he said.

WASHINGTON – A special bulletin issued by The Credit Union Journal Daily Wednesday incorrectly reported the Securities and Exchange Commission included credit unions in a new regulation that will exempt banks and thrifts from registration for their broker-dealer operations. NCUA said the regulation does not include credit unions but it is working with the SEC to bring credit unions under the exemption.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Ohio HealthCare FCU said it has installed Hyland Software’s OnBase enterprise content management system to increase process efficiency and enhance member service. The $32 million credit union is leveraging OnBase across its three branches to keep pace with its growing membership. Employees of the credit union use OnBase to scan, index and archive documents such as new member applications and loan applications to decrease processing time of documents and increase member satisfaction.

WASHINGTON – CUNA last month continued to build ties with congressional leaders and key constituency groups, doling out $20,000 to five so-called leadership PACs, according to a report filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission. Contributions went to National Leadership PAC, a Democratic group headed by House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel of New York ($1,000); Continuing a Majority Party Action Committee (CAMPAC), a Republican leadership PAC headed by Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan ($5,000); Bart’s Bridge PAC, headed by Democrat Bart Stupak of Michigan ($5,000); Freedom Fund, a leadership PAC for for Iowa Sen. Mike Crapo ($4,000); and Alliance for the West, a leadership PAC for Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho ($5,000). CUNA also contributed to several congressional newcomers, including Adrian Smith, a Republican state lawmaker in Nebraska ($4,000); Joan Fitz-Gerald, a Colorado Democrat ($5,000), and Laura Richardson, a California Democrat who won last June’s special election to fill the seat of the late Juanita Millender-McDonald ($2,500). Other large contributions went to: Reps. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee ($5,000); Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas ($5,000) and Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas ($5,000).

MONETT, Mo. – Jack Henry & Associates yesterday said it has signed with LifeLock to provide the company’s identity theft protection services to its credit union and bank customers. LifeLock seeks to render a consumer’s personal information useless to thieves by maintaining active fraud alerts at major credit agencies, prompting creditors to obtain authorization for new lines of credit or credit file changes that could lead to identity theft. LifeLock also offers credit restoration services for victims of identity theft.

NORCROSS, Ga. – Microsoft Corp. stands to be the biggest winner of the pending $48-a-share takeover of CheckFree Corp. by Fiserv, earning an estimated $415 million on 8.6 million CheckFree shares it holds, a proxy for the pending deal disclosed yesterday. Microsoft obtained the shares as part of the 2000 sale of Transpoint electronics bill payments provider to CheckFree. Transpoint was owned jointly by Microsoft and First Data Corp. After Microsoft, the biggest winner will be CheckFree founder and CEO Peter Kight, who stands to earn approximately $300 million from his 7% stake in the company. Kight and three other top executives have signed retention contracts with Fiserv to stay on and continue managing CheckFree after completion of the deal. CheckFree shareholders are scheduled to vote Oct. 23 on the deal, valued at about $4.2 billion, including the assumption of debt.

MILWAUKEE – Marshall & Ilsley yesterday announced its shareholders will vote at a special meeting Oct. 25 on the structured spin-off of the company’s Metavante subsidiary to shareholders. Under the deal, Warburg Pincus LLC will invest $625 million in Metavante and receive a 25% stake in the new publicly traded company. M&I said it received a favorable ruling from the IRS last week on the tax-free nature of the spin-off and the transaction has been cleared by federal antitrust regulators. The spin-off is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – The Blackstone Group is working with its investment banks to raise more capital for the buyout of PHH Mortgage–a critical component of the proposed takeover of parent PHH Corp. by GE Capital, the private equity giant said yesterday. PHH reported earlier this week Blackstone had notified GE Capital it had fallen as much as $750 million short on the required financing, jeopardizing completion of the deal. Blackstone will continue its efforts to obtain debt financing but is not optimistic, PHH said. Blackstone also has said there can be no assurances that conditions to closing the deal will be satisfied, PHH added. Under terms of the transaction, GE will acquire PHH Corp. for $1.8 billion and retain PHH’s fleet management operations, while selling the mortgage operations to Blackstone. The stakes for credit unions are huge, as PHH has become the largest mortgage bank for credit unions after its 2005 acquisition of CUNA Mutual Group’s mortgage operations. That added a $12 billion servicing portfolio and relationships with 2,000 credit unions to PHH’s already vast credit union operations.

RESTON, Va. – Student loan giant Sallie Mae yesterday told investors it expects a group led by mega-banks JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America to complete the $60-a-share acquisition of the company, even after passage of adverse student loan legislation that will cut lender subsidies by as much as 20%. Responding to rumors that the group will seek a modification of the terms or even walk away, Sallie Mae said, "Our contract is with Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, two of America’s largest and strongest banks. We expect these banks to honor their commitments under the contract, not breach the contract. The company affirms that the College Cost Reduction Act, which is awaiting the President’s signature, does not and will not constitute a Material Adverse Effect under the merger agreement." Under terms of the $25 million deal, the buyers, led by private equity fund J.C. Flowers & Co., can terminate the agreement if a material adverse effect occurs. The group could be required to pay Sallie Mae a $900 million break-up fee if it terminates the deal. Sallie Mae closed up slightly yesterday, but well below the deal price, at $48.25, indicating Wall Street’s lack of faith the transaction will be completed.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board is expected next week to approve a new rule expanding member access to internal books and records, the first of a package of proposals aimed at bringing greater transparency to credit union operations. The proposal, prompted by several controversies involving members trying to access records of credit union conversions, will set clear standards regarding when members may request and obtain records of internal board and committee deliberations. Later, the NCUA Board is expected to vote on proposals to require disclosure of management compensation during some mergers; and to institute credit union bylaws as regulations. The NCUA Board also is scheduled to vote on two requests for conversions to community charters: by Consolidated FCU of Portland, Ore., and Connects FCU of Richmond, Va.