Practice and client management

After years of interest rates near 0%, credit unions were pleased by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee decision to raise the Fed Funds rate.

Filene Research Institute announced that Summit Credit Union, a $2.3-billion institution based in Madison, Wis., signed up to participate in a Filene Impact Lab program called “Larky.”

Raddon Financial Group, a provider of financial industry research and trends data, said in 2015 it added 50 new financial institutions as clients, including 40 credit unions. The remaining 10 comprised seven banks and three other institutions.

Two New Mexico credit unions became the first credit unions in the state to earn the “Juntos Avanzamos” designation.

TotalBank in Miami has returned Jorge Rossell to the position of chief executive, after Luis de la Aguilera departed to take the same position at U.S. Century Bank in Doral, Fla.

Municipal Employees Credit Union Of Baltimore (MECU), a $1.2-billion institution based in Baltimore, Md., said its members received a loan interest rebate last week and will receive an “extraordinary dividend” at the end of this month.

Ascend Federal Credit Union, a $1.8-billion institution based in Tullahoma, Tenn., said it has issued bonus dividends and loan interest refunds totaling more than $6 million.

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Marine Credit Union announced Monday that it has completed its merger with United Service Community Credit Union.

KINGSPORT, TENN. — Eastman Credit Union announced over the weekend that it will issue a $10 million extraordinary dividend to members as a reward for doing business with the CU.

Union Community Bank in Mount Joy, Pa., will promote its chief operating officer to lead the bank, after the retirement of its longtime president and chief executive.

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., is looking for a new chief executive. The $4.7 billion-asset company said that Frank Mastrangelo resigned as CEO to become its technologist in residence.

Peoria, Ill. – Citizens Equity First Credit Union (CEFCU), a $5.2-billion institution based in Peoria, Ill., said its board of directors has issued a $40 million “extraordinary dividend” to its members for the second consecutive year.

After more than a year of debate, the trade association is amending its bylaws that required credit unions to belong to both CUNA and their respective state leagues. Credit Union Journal offers a look at how the debate finally got to this point.

The credit union industry as a whole continues its streak of strong quarterly results, but the “great divide” between large and small CUs still exists.

U.S. Bancorp has plucked longtime lending executive Tom Wind from EverBank Financial to run its mortgage business.

In dramatic move, trade group says it will draft new bylaws and present to membership in early 2016.

Now that the state House of Representatives has passed the legislation, all eyes turn to the state Senate, where the Michigan CU League expects to find strong support for the modernization effort.

Eileen Serra, 61, the chief executive of the Chase Card Services unit, will step down in January and become an adviser to the company on growth initiatives, according to a memo Wednesday from Gordon Smith, JPMorgan's CEO of consumer and community banking.

CIT Group will pay about $60 million in severance to 14 executives who have been dismissed or left the company, as it continues to shuffle its executive lineup following its August acquisition of OneWest Bank.

Several CEOs hitting the magic age of 63 have chosen to sell their institutions, suggesting a dearth of younger executives waiting in the wings.