PORTLAND, Ore. – Shares in TRM Corp. sunk to a new low of just $1.55 Friday as the nation’s second largest independent operator of ATMs announced a $120 million loss of its fiscal 2006 and that the Nasdaq has threatened to delist its shares as it continues to struggle to file it first quarter financials for 2007. The report was delayed due to modifications made to the company's loan agreements in November 2006 and issues related to assets the company sold in January. The company is also in the process of hiring a new independent registered public accounting firm, since its present accounting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, declined to be reappointed. The company also reported last week that its CEO had resigned and been replaced. TRM operates a fleet of more than 15,000 ATMs, 6,000 of which are co-branded for the credit union-owned CO-OP Network.

CALABASAS, Calif. – Angelo Mozilo, the CEO and co-founder of Countrywide Financial Corp., wracked up almost $16 million in profits on the exercise of options in May, bringing his year-to-date earnings from the nation’s biggest mortgage bank to $80 million. Mozilo, one of the highest paid executives in the country, agreed to take a cut in pay earlier this month after the size of his compensation was disclosed publicly, but the mortgage kingpin still owns millions of options that are exercisable for a little as $9.60 a share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mozilo earned $120 million last year and has taken home almost $350 million over the past three years.

RESTON, Va. – Sallie Mae Chairman Albert Lord, who engineered the groundbreaking privatization of the student loan giant, will reap one of the biggest rewards in recent years from the $25 billion takeover of the company–almost $225 million. Lord, who negotiated the $60-a-share buyout, owns shares or options for 7.34 million Sallie Mae shares which will earn him $224.9 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Lord has taken home more than $100 million in compensation since 2000. Several other Sallie Mae insiders will reap huge profits form the buyout, including directors Alexander Porter, Jr., $25.2 million, Charles Daley, $10.2 million, and Steven Shapiro, $10 million, and executives C.E. Andrews and Robert Autor, both $16 million.

JACKSON, Mich. – CP FCU said it is offering local businesses a variety of loan products totaling $5 million to help spur the regional economy. The loans are available for existing businesses wanting to expand or to purchase new equipment, vehicles or property. The program, offered in partnership with the Jackson Citizens for Economic Growth, will provide 20 different loan products, each for up to $250,000. The group is looking for other financial institutions to participate in the program.

MILWAUKEE – Landmark CU announced last week it will provide $10 million in low-interest loans to help subprime mortgagers refinance their loans. Under Rescue Refi, Wisconsin’s largest credit union will offer loans as much as 200 basis points below the 8.25% being seen by many ARM borrowers who saw their rates bump-up recently. The program will provide members with an ARM that is fixed for five years and can be adjusted a maximum of 1% a year after that, with a 6% cap on the increase over the life of the loan.

LONGVIEW, Wash. – Lower Columbia Longshoremen’s FCU has joined MOMS–Mothers of Military Support–to provide help for veterans and their families in dire straits. The two are providing gift cards for the needy vets. The credit union is donating the operating expenses while MOMS is doing the fundraising for the prepaid Visa cards, which can be used at any U.S. retail location or overseas. PSCU Financial Services, the credit union-owned transactions processor will process the cards.

CHESTER, S.C. – Family and life-long friends of Logan Tinsley gathered here yesterday to remember the life of the Army Medic, the first resident to die in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Tinsley’s name was etched in black granite along side 158 other veterans who died in battle during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and prompted a new monument in front of the county’s War Memorial, which was erected with a contribution from Founders FCU. The town’s newest monument was unveiled during Memorial Day’s ceremony honoring Tinsley, the 21-year-old Army Specialist who died in Iraq the day after Christmas in an overturned Humvee. Founders FCU worked with the Chester County Veterans Services Director and County Supervisor’s office to buy the monument and design the memorial for the current war.

RICHMOND, Va. - Members at as many as a dozen Virginia credit unions stand to gain in inactive account fees and back-interest if an NCUA ruling on federal preemption is allowed to stand.

WASHINGTON - Perhaps one of the greatest concerns about the future of credit unions is one that isn't making headlines: the difficulty of chartering a brand new credit union.

BAYTOWN, Texas - Having great success in attracting new members is not enough. In fact, even keeping those members won't cut it. Success requires loyalty from the members a credit union already has, according to several experts, who shared with the Credit Union Journal several strategies for doing just that.

Nominations Are Now Open

TNB Acquires Five Portfolios

WASHINGTON - It's been called credit unions' best-kept secret and its greatest differentiator, but do members-and more importantly, potential members-care?

WASHINGTON - Representatives of CUNA and NAFCU, who have been at increasing odds in recent months, agree on one thing: both credit union advocacies have no plans to oppose would-be Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke, who has traveled the country the past few years lobbying for repeal of the credit union tax exemption and against credit union legislation.

BROOKINGS, S.D. - One bank holding company here is preparing to "aggressively" roll out a prepaid debit MasterCard that will also offer additional functionality in June and says it is seeking credit unions with which to partner.

LANCASTER, S.C. - Representatives of the World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) international remittance program visited Founders FCU here, along with Latino Community Credit Union in Durham, N.C., to get a closer look at how the institutions are bringing local Hispanic communities into the financial mainstream.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA proposed new regulations last week that would return the federal credit union regulator to the business of enforcing bylaw disputes.

INDIANAPOLIS - Antonio Cato of Financial Center Credit Union was chosen by the Consulate of Mexico to represent Indiana at the 45th Annual Information Conference of the El Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (Institute for Mexicans Living Abroad). The annual conference provides a forum for information exchange, experiences and ideas between community leaders who specialize in offering financial education to immigrants and the Mexican government. The conference brings 40 financial professionals from the U.S. and Canada together to share ideas. Cato is originally from Mexico and manages Financial Center's Centro Financiero Express office, which opened in March as a response to Indianapolis' growing Spanish-speaking population.

PHOENIX - With the cost of the average wedding approaching $30,000, a subsidiary of Desert Schools FCU here has created an insurance product to protect against the loss of deposits and other unforeseen events that can tarnish the big day.

Practice may make perfect, but it's not perfection we're looking for. Instead, the Credit Union Journal is now calling for entries into our Third Annual Best Practices Awards program, which has developed into one of the most widely recognized forums for the sharing of practices worthy of emulation within the credit union community. It's all about ideas. From the Credit Union Journal's inception, readers have consistently indicated they are in search of new ideas and new ways of doing things at their credit unions-especially if it can be implemented at a very low cost. Peers have always been the best teachers, and the Journal's Best Practices issue has become something of a University of Cool Stuff.