ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA’s effort to open up the internal workings of credit unions to members appears to be running into some opposition, with several prominent credit union managers expressing their disapproval. In a comment letter to NCUA, John Simmonds, CEO at Southeast Financial FCU, said the proposal to disclose to members all compensation deals related to mergers is an “encroachment on personal privacy” and “exhibits an implicit mistrust by the NCUA Board and its regulators of all senior management officials of credit unions that are considering mergers.” Kirk Kurdeleski, CEO of Bethpage FCU, said because there have been no scandals regarding compensation paid in the thousands of credit union mergers the past few years there is no need for additional disclosures. Frank Berrish, CEO of Visions FCU, questioned the need for a separate rule increasing member access to books and records, saying that member rights in a credit union should not be equated with those of shareholders in a public company. Shareholders, he said, buy stock in order to maximize their profit, while credit union members have no such expectation, he asserted. Mark Shobe, CEO at DFCU Financial, said the 1% requirement, with a maximum of 250 names to request access to internal records, can invite disruptions by a small group of members, as it did last year at his credit union, where members tried to recall the board for its ill-fated conversion to bank. The 250 names amount to less than one-sixth of 1% of DFCU members, he noted.

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BUENA PARK, Calif - Three local credit unions have agreed to combine their operations.

AUSTIN, Texas - As credit unions continue to battle slow growth in membership, shares and loans, one expert said the Internet still sparkles with opportunities.

CUISPA Calls For Entries

MAY

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Continental FCU here just moved away from the "Microsoft monopoly" and into the 21st century of electronic communications with an intranet and web community platform that allows employees coast to coast to share files, schedule meetings and post updates to a homepage-all at a bargain-basement cost.

MADISON, Wis. - A new study by the Filene Research Institute indicates there is a strong correlation between high performing credit unions and exceptional boards.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. - One or more thieves used a blowtorch to break into an Orange County Teachers FCU ATM here.

CRANFORD, N.J. - Three former volunteer credit union directors who worked together won the million-dollar lottery yesterday when their credit union-turned-bank agreed to be sold to another bank for $170 million. The agreement by New York Community Bancorp to take over Synergy Financial Group, known until 1999 as Synergy FCU, means that stock owned by each of the three former volunteers is worth more than $1 million, according to the company's annual proxy statement.

DENVER - Credit union executives around the country were holding their breath last week to see if insurers for Centrix Financial, the reconstituted subprime auto lender, would continue paying claims on loan defaults, which have risen to almost 40% in recent months.

Charlottesville, Va. - FirstFed Financial Corp. topped SNL Financial's annual ranking of the 100 largest thrifts.

Credit Union Foe Nominated to Fed

WASHINGTON - When contemplating the maneuvering around the CU Regulatory Improvement Act (CURIA), especially the provisions regarding credit union conversions to banks, I was reminded of an old Jimi Hendrix sing called, "When 6 Turned Out to be 9."

AKRON, Ohio - A credit union here is going above and beyond the "passive" multi-factor authentication tools common to most credit union Internet banking sites, asking members to identify a series of human faces as part of a cognometric approach to online authentication.

WASHINGTON - Even the most optimistic of credit union advocates can understand why some in the movement might be concerned about the future of credit unions.

GREAT FALLS, Mont.-CUs were included as part of a story in the Great Falls Tribune about the increase in postage rates. First Liberty CU was quoted as saying the postage boost to 41 cents mail will have an affect. "This increase will cost our small branches in other towns more because they don't have access to that service," LeAnn Lashley, of First Liberty Credit Union, told the Great Falls Tribune. Lashley told the newspaper the CU has been exploring methods to provide statements via e-mail.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Are you ready to change everything?

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — What if you could start your day with a massage, go for a stroll with your pooch, play a little foosball and then cap your day with dinner with a special someone (who could also offer you a raise)?