Advia Credit Union's Acquisition of Mid America Bank to Close on August 1

Advia Credit Union (Parchment, MI) announced that it has received official approval to acquire Janesville-based, WI Mid America Bank.

In February of this year, the Board of Directors of Advia Credit Union announced that they had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mid America Bank.

The acquisition will be completed on August 1 when Advia’s field of membership is expanded to include the following counties, serving anyone who works or lives in: Dane (WI), Milwaukee (WI), Waukesha (WI), Jefferson (WI), Green (WI), Rock (WI), Walworth (WI), and Winnebago (IL).

Read the press release.

Financial Partners CU Fined for Violating Regulatory Unsecured Loan Limit

Financial Partners Credit Union (Springfield, Illinois) was assessed a civil money penalty by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for violating the regulatory unsecured loan limit to a borrower.

For a credit union with between $5 million and $10 million in assets, the maximum unsecured loan limit to a member is $18,000.

According to the findings, during the December 31, 2013 examination the credit union was ordered not to grant any more loans, extensions, or add-ons to Member 1.

On or about July 30, 2015, the credit union improperly granted an unsecured loan for $18,000 to Member 1. Member 1 already had $25,000 in unsecured debt.

During an examination on or about March 30, 2016, the Illinois credit union regulator identified the aforementioned loans.

On or about May 4, a letter was sent to the credit union about the violation. The credit union was given to June 23 to cure the regulatory violation and avoid a monetary penalty.

The credit union replied that it would not be able to cure the violation; because Member 1 refused to comply with the specified remedial action.

As of the July 27, the credit union had failed to comply with the specified remedial action and to cure the regulatory violation.

The Illinois Department Financial and Professional Regulation assessed a civil money penalty of $500 against the credit union. The civil money penalty could not exceed $1000.

Read the Civil Penalty Order.

Several Large CUs Receive Grants from NCUA

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) this week reported that 309 low-income credit unions received almost $2.5 million in grants.

The grants were awarded in four initiative areas -- capacity and growth, cybersecurity, student internships, and staff training.

Among the grant recipients were some very large credit unions with low-income designations.

For example, $1.2 billion Goldenwest FCU (Ogden, UT) received a grant of $15,000.

Other large credit union grant recipients are the $2.4 billion Safe CU (Folsom, CA), the $1.3 billion Selco Community Credit Union (Eugene, OR), the $2.3 billion Grow Financial Credit Union (Tampa, FL), and the $2.3 billion Spokane Teachers Credit Union (Liberty Lake, WA). This list is not meant to be exhaustive.

While the amounts awarded to these large credit unions were relatively small, I believe that these grants would have made a bigger impact to small credit unions serving low-income and underserved markets.

NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives administers the grant funding provided by the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, which is appropriated by Congress.

Read the press release.

Review the list of grant recipients.

Credit Union Sued for Illegally Repossessing Servicemembers' Cars

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Michigan to recover damages from the COPOCO Community Credit Union (Bay City, MI), alleging that the credit union violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by repossessing protected servicemembers’ motor vehicles without obtaining the necessary court orders.

The complaint alleges that COPOCO’s vehicle repossession procedures did not include any process to determine customers’ military status – such as checking the Department of Defense’s database – prior to conducting repossessions without court orders.

The complaint also alleges that COPOCO illegally repossessed U.S. Army Private First Class Christian Carriveau’s car, along with his two-year-old daughter’s car seat, out of his driveway in Lacey, Washington, near Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His wife, Alyssa Carriveau, initially believed that the car had been stolen, but she subsequently learned that it had been repossessed. Private First Class Carriveau was away at military training at the time and Alyssa Carriveau was not able to get to work without the vehicle.

In addition to monetary damages for affected servicemembers, the SCRA provides for civil monetary penalties of up to $60,000 for the first offense and $120,000 for each subsequent offense. The department will also seek changes in how COPOCO conducts future repossessions.

Read the press release.

NCUA Board to Reduce Exam Frequency

The National Credit Union Administration Board decided last week to eliminate the calendar year examination requirement for federal credit unions and federally insured, state-chartered credit unions with more than $250 million in assets.

According to the NCUA Board Action Item, NCUA Regional Directors will have discretion to schedule exams of federal credit unions; however, the time between completion of the most recent exam and completion of the next exam cannot exceed 23 months. The outer bound of 23 months is consistent with existing agency policy of an 8 to 23 month examination cycle for all federally chartered credit unions.

For federally insured, state-chartered credit unions with assets above $250 million, Regional Directors will no longer be required to examine these institutions each calendar year. Instead, Regional Directors will select federally insured, state-chartered credit unions for examination during a particular calendar year based on various factors, including but not limited to the risk profile of the institution, emerging trends, the time elapsed since the last NCUA onsite work, and coordination needs with state supervisory authorities.

These two policy changes will be effective immediately.

Read the Board Action Item.

NCUSIF Reserves Increased by $23 Million for June

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) last week reported a $23 million increase in reserves at the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) during the month of June.

As of June 30, 2016, reserves were $178.9 million -- $4.5 million was for specific natural person credit unions and $174.4 million was for general reserves. At the end of the previous month, reserves were $155.9 million.

The NCUSIF recognized an insurance loss expense of $22.2 million during the month of June 2016. This was the second consecutive month where insurance loss expenses increased.

Read the June NCUSIF Statement.

Melrose CU's Website Misleads on Financial Health

Melrose Credit Union (Briarwood, NY) has misleading information about its financial health on its website.

The following screenshot shows the misleading information, which captured from the credit union's website on July 20. This information can be found under What's New.

The website cites the 2015 edition of DepositAccounts.com Top 200 Healthiest Credit Unions in America. The website gives the impression that these rankings were just released and that Melrose Credit Union is the healthiest credit union in New York.

However, these rankings were not just released. The 2015 rankings are based upon December 2014 data.

While the information accurately reflected the credit union's health as of December 2014, it does not currently reflect the health of the credit union.

In fact, DepositAccounts.com currently has suspended the health rating for Melrose due to the uncertainty surrounding its large exposure to New York City taxi medallion loans. (See screenshot below)

The New York Department of Financial Services should require Melrose Credit Union to remove this misleading information from its website.

Franklin Mint FCU to Build $19 Million HQ

Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (Broomall, PA) is building a new three-story, $19 million corporate headquarters in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

The new 71,000 square-foot headquarters building will include a two-story, glass-enclosed café with grand staircase.

This is just another example that many credit unions have outgrown being small, mom and pop organizations.

Read the story.

The Number of Problem CUs Fell; But Shares and Assets Increased at Problem CUs

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) reported today that the number of problem credit unions fell during the second quarter; but share and assets at problem credit unions grew during the quarter.

At the end of the second quarter, there were 209 problem credit unions. In comparison, there were 218 problem credit unions at the end of the first quarter of 2016 and 258 credit unions at the end of the second quarter of 2015.

A problem credit union has a composite CAMEL rating of 4 or 5.

During the second quarter both total shares (deposits) and assets in problem credit unions rose. Shares in problem credit unions increased from $7.5 billion as of March 31, 2016 to $8.4 billion as of June 30. Over the same time period, assets in problem credit unions rose from $7.8 billion to $9.5 billion. A year earlier, problem credit unions held $10.2 billion in shares and $11.4 billion in assets.

According to NCUA, 0.85 percent of total insured shares and 0.8 percent of industry assets were in problem credit unions at the end of the second quarter.

NCUA reported that 1 credit union with at least $1 billion in assets was a problem credit union as of June 30, 2016 (this credit union was most likely Melrose Credit Union in Briarwood, NY). The number of problem credit unions with between $500 million and $1 billion in assets was unchanged during the quarter at 2 credit unions. The number of problem credit unions with between $100 million and $500 million in assets was unchanged at 14 at the end of the second quarter of 2016. Only credit unions with less than $10 million in assets saw a decrease in the number of problem credit unions by 12 during the quarter to 114 credit unions.

Rep. King Calls for Update of GAO Study on Credit Unions

Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) wrote House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) on July 18th urging Congress to update a previous Government Accountability Office study on the tax-exempt status and membership practices of credit unions.

It has been a decade since the GAO last examined this issue. At that time, GAO examined the effect of the Credit Union Membership Access Act on credit union membership; reviewed the NCUA’s efforts to serve low- and moderate-income individuals; compared rates offered by credit unions with those offered by comparably sized banks; and assessed transparency of credit union senior executive compensation.

Rep. King noted in his letter that regulatory and legislative changes have blurred the lines of distinction between credit unions and other depository institutions.

“Congress has a responsibility to all American taxpayers to ensure credit unions and all “not-for-profits” missions’ properly align with good public policy,” King wrote. “The credit union tax expenditure alone will be nearly $10 billion over the next five years and the last GAO report showed significant weakness in oversight in the industry’s mission.”

Read the letter.

Diversity and Corporate Governance

Federal regulators and policymakers want to increase the level of diversity at financial institutions, including their boards.

Beginning in 2010, Section 342 of the Dodd Frank Act created the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). One of the goals of OMWI was to assess the diversity policies and practices of entities regulated by the various federal agencies.

In 2015, federal bank regulators and the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a final rule establishing standards for regulated entities to create and strengthen their diversity policies and practices — including their organizational commitment to diversity, workforce and employment practices, procurement and business practices, and practices to promote transparency of organizational diversity and inclusion within the entities' U.S. operations.

NCUA as part of this final rule issued a voluntary self-assessment checklist that provides credit unions with best practices for assessing their diversity policies and practices.

However, my experience is that voluntary best practices tend to become what is expected by examiners.

In a June 2016 speech, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Jo White stated that "the low level of board diversity in the United States is unacceptable." She believes increasing board diversity is the right thing to do.

To address the issue of board diversity, Chairman White stated that the agency staff are working on a proposed rule that would require public companies to include in their proxy statement “meaningful disclosures” of the race, sex and ethnicity of their board members and board nominees. Chairman White commented that the disclosures would be based on voluntary self-reporting by directors.

While SEC regulations do not apply to credit unions, I suspect that it is only a matter of time before credit unions, as well as other non-publicly traded financial institutions, would be subject to such disclosure about board members and nominees, as it would be viewed as good corporate governance.

While greater board diversity is a positive, having the federal government mandate it is not.

CUNA's Alternative Reality

Once again, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has removed all doubt that it lives in a different reality from the rest of us.

In CUNA's July 12 testimony before the House Financial Service Committee, Jim Nussle, president and CEO of CUNA, stated that during the financial crisis the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) remained well funded -- as the NCUSIF fund ratio was above 1.20 percent of insured deposits over that time period.

However, CUNA is not allowed to rewrite history about what happened during the financial crisis.

CUNA's testimony neglected to mention that the NCUSIF was bailed out by Congress in 2009 with the creation of the Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund (Stabilization Fund). This shifted the cost of the corporate credit union debacle from the NCUSIF to the Stabilization Fund.

Without the creation of the Stabilization Fund, the NCUSIF ratio was going to drop to 0.31 percent for 2009 with the failures of two corporate credit unions, WesCorp and U.S. Central.

Moreover, the NCUSIF ratio would have fallen further, maybe going into the red, because three other corporate credit unions failed.

CUNA also conveniently forgot to mention that the Stabilization Fund borrowed billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury to help resolve these five failed corporate credit unions. In fact, the Stabilization Fund still has $1 billion in borrowings outstanding.

So, the reality is that the NCUSIF was bailed out during the financial crisis and the industry tapped the Treasury to help resolve the corporate credit union debacle.

Consumer Group Critical of CU Trade Groups Opposition to CFPB Arbitration Rule

In a BankThink piece appearing in the American Banker, the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) criticized credit unions for their opposition to the proposed arbitration rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The CFPB in May published its proposed rule to prohibit class action bans in forced arbitration clauses.

The authors wrote: "Despite statements by credit union representatives and empirical data proving that most credit unions do not use forced arbitration, their lobbyists are decrying the rule."

The Consumer Group goes on to state that "[g]iven this record of credit unions eschewing forced arbitration, the industry's growing attacks on the CFPB proposal are jarring."

NACA claims that the credit union industry's protest about class action lawsuits are unfounded and that the credit union industry is depriving its "members of critical choices."

John A. Herrera Nominated for NCUA Board

President Obama has nominated John A. Herrera to be a member of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board for a term expiring April 10, 2021. He will fill the seat vacated by Debbie Matz, who resigned from the NCUA Board at the end of April.

According to the announcement, Mr. Herrera is currently the Senior Vice President for Latino and Hispanic Affairs at Self-Help, a nonprofit community development financial institution.

From 2003 to 2010, he served as a Commissioner for the North Carolina Credit Union Commission.

Mr. Herrera was twice elected as a Town Alderman in Carrboro, North Carolina in 2001 and 2005.

Mr. Herrera has served on the Board of the Latino Community Development Center in Durham, North Carolina since 2001.

He also co-founded Latino Community Credit Union in 2000 (Durham, NC) and currently serves as the Chair of the credit union's board of directors.

Mr. Herrera has received numerous awards from credit union organizations, including being recognized as a 2013 Credit Union Rock Star by the Credit Union National Association.

Furthermore, he is a member of the board of directors for the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders.

Mr. Herrera was born in Costa Rica.

Read the White House press release.

Credit Unions Sponsor Symetra Tour Event

The 2nd annual Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic will be held at Brook-Lea Country Club (Rochester, NY) from July 14-17.

The professional golf tournament is sponsored by numerous Rochester area credit unions, including Summit Federal Credit Union, Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union (Alloya was formed from the remains of the failed Members United Corporate FCU), Exceed Financial Credit Union, Visions Federal Credit Union, and Empower Federal Credit Union. Click here to see the list of title sponsors.

Sponsorships range from $1,000 for a hole sponsor to $20,000 for a featured sponsorship.

The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic is part of the Symetra Tour, which provides a pathway for players to the LPGA.

Waiting Area at University Career Development Center Named for CU after Gift

Texas Trust Credit Union made a $100,000 gift to University of Texas Arlington's Career Development Center.

In return for the gift, the central waiting area, which is surrounded by eight interview rooms, will be named for the credit union.

The central waiting area will be called the Texas Trust Credit Union Interview Suite.

Read the story.

NYC Taxi Medallion Prices Averaged $550,000 for May and June

For the months of May and June, taxi medallion prices averaged $550,750 in New York City.

There were 10 transfers during the two months, of which 7 were foreclosures.

Taxi medallion prices ranged between $405,000 to $610,000. However, the $405,000 medallion transfer is possibly a data outlier.

These transactions indicate that credit unions with New York City taxi medallion loans will likely see an increase in delinquencies, troubled debt restructured loans, and charge-offs.

OCC Finds Auto Lending Risk Is Increasing

The Office of the Comptroller Currency (OCC) today expressed concern about increased auto lending risk.

The OCC's Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2016 found less stringent underwriting standards and increased risk layering, as lenders compete for market share. In addition, used car values have started to decline, which could lead to higher losses on repossessions.

OCC wrote:

Auto lending risk is increasing because of notable and unprecedented growth across all types of lenders. Recently, delinquencies on auto loans have begun to increase and used car values have started to decline. As banks have competed for market share, some banks have responded with less stringent underwriting standards, or both, for direct and indirect auto loans. In addition to the easing of underwriting standards and potential layering of risks (higher loan-to-value ratios combined with longer terms), concentrations in auto loans have been increasing. These factors create the potential for increasing levels of embedded credit risk in auto loan portfolios. The elevated risk results in higher probable credit losses and may warrant additional provisions to the ALLL or higher capital allocations. Supervisory work to date has noted that some banks’ risk management practices have not kept pace with the growth and increasing risk in these portfolios.

Read the press release.

GAO: Tax Expenditures Deserve Greater Oversight

In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that tax expenditures deserve greater scrutiny and the federal budgeting process provides an opportunity to increase oversight.

Tax expenditures — special credits, deductions, and other tax provisions that reduce taxpayers’ tax liabilities — represent a substantial federal commitment. The credit union tax exemption is a tax expenditure.

U.S. Treasury estimates that $1.23 trillion in federal revenue was forgone from the 169 tax expenditures reported for fiscal year 2015. However, most federal agencies surveyed in the report could not identify how the tax expenditure furthered the mission of the agency.

The report points out that only proposed tax expenditures or those that expire are subject to review within congressional budget processes. Existing, non-expiring tax expenditures are not subject to such review. The credit union tax exemption is a non-expiring tax expenditure.

GAO identified various options to integrate tax expenditures into both the executive and congressional budgeting processes.

For example, GAO wrote that policymakers could require that all, or some subset of, tax expenditures expire after a finite period. This option would result in Congress periodically considering whether to allow tax expenditures to expire or to extend them, similar to the subset of tax expenditures that currently expire unless extended .

According to the report, if these options are implemented, they could increase transparency on how the federal government allocates resources, help policymakers identify how well tax expenditures are working, and create additional controls over spending through the tax code.

Read the report.

Baxter Credit Union Subject to Overdraft Fee Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Baxter Credit Union (Vernon Hills, IL) over overdraft fees.

According to the complaint, Sondra Ramirez alleges that Baxter Credit Union charged her an overdraft fee despite her account having enough money to cover the transaction.

The complaint accuses the credit union of breach of contract, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment along with other issues.

The plaintiff requested a trial by jury and seeks compensatory damages, disgorgement, to restore and return all monies allegedly wrongfully obtained plus interest, all legal fees and any other relief as the court deems just

Read the news story.

Consumer Credit at Credit Unions Rose at Annualized Pace in May of $79.9 Billion

Outstanding consumer credit at credit unions grew during May by approximately $6.6 billion to $362.2 billion fueled by an increase in non-revolving credit, according to the Federal Reserve.

While revolving credit at credit unions was unchanged for May at $48.5 billion, non-revolving credit increased by nearly $6.7 billion to $313.7 billion.

See the G.19 report.

Q2 2014 CU Borrowings from Federal Reserve's Discount Window

According to information released by the Federal Reserve, 160 credit unions borrowed from the Federal Reserve's Discount Window during the second quarter of 2014.

In comparison, 116 credit unions borrowed from the Federal Reserve during the first quarter of 2014.

The Federal Reserve is required to disclose with a two year delay information on borrowings from the Discount Window.

During the second quarter of 2014, there were 197 transactions. Total borrowings were almost $212.7 million.

The average amount borrowed was $1,079,538. The median amount borrowed was $10,000, which indicates that numerous borrowings by credit unions were to test their ability to access the Federal Reserve's Discount Window.

The maximum amount borrowed was $50 million by Delta Community Credit Union (Atlanta, GA).

True North Federal Credit Union (Juneau, AK) made the most trips to the Discount Window at 12 during the quarter.

Alabama One Credit Union (Tuscaloosa, AL) was the only credit union to borrow from the Discount Window's secondary credit program.

Merging CUs Shared Certain Negative Financial Characteristics

During a March 9th webinar, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) stated that the most common reason for credit unions merging was weak financial conditions.

According to NCUA, the agency studied over 400 credit union mergers during 2012 and 2013. NCUA found that merging credit unions shared certain negative financial characteristics.

• About 47 percent of the merging credit unions had negative member growth for three consecutive years prior to merger.
• About 26 percent of the merging credit unions were in prompt corrective action sometime during the three to four years prior to merger. 
• Fifty-four percent of the merging credit unions had negative earnings for three consecutive prior years to merger. 
• Fifty-three percent had declining net worth ratios for three consecutive years prior to merger.

These financial factors could help identify the universe of credit unions that are potential merger targets.

According to information from a NCUA spokesperson, at the end of 2015,

• 266 credit unions reported declining membership each quarter between December 2012 and December 2015;
• 208 credit unions had negative earnings for each quarter between December 2012 and December 2015; and
• only 3 credit unions saw their net worth ratio fall every quarter between December 2012 and December 2015.

The NCUA spokesperson noted that 553 credit unions were subject to prompt corrective action (defined as net worth ratio below 7 percent) during that 3-year time period -- 171 credit unions in 2013, 172 credit unions in 2014, and 210 credit unions in 2015. However, this 553 credit union number probably involves the double or triple counting of the same institution.

GAO: Health of CDCI CUs Improved Since 2011

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that the financial performance of credit unions that participated in the Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI) of the Troubled Asset Relief Program had improved.

According to the report, 36 banks and 48 credit unions originally participated in the program. As of March 31, 2016, 57 of the original 84 CDCI participants remained in the program, including 26 banks and 31 credit unions.

The GAO found that the financial condition of credit unions remaining in the CDCI program as of March 31, 2016, appears to have improved since the end of 2011. GAO examined five indicators -- the net charge-offs to average loans ratio, the delinquent loans ratio, the delinquent loans to net worth ratio, the return on average assets, and the net worth ratio.

The median of all five indicators of financial condition that GAO analyzed improved from 2011 to 2015. However, since December 2014, the median of one indicator — the return on average assets — weakened.

The report noted that for those credit unions that had not repaid CDCI investment, beginning no later than September 2018, the rates paid on the CDCI investment will increase from 2 to 9 percent. But Treasury officials expect most will repay their investment before September 2018.


Read the report.

Royal Credit Union to Acquire Deerwood Bank's Apple Valley Branch

Royal Credit Union (Eau Claire, WI) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Apple Valley, MN office of Deerwood Bank.

Under the terms of the agreement, Royal Credit Union will assume deposits and purchase assets of the Apple Valley branch located at 14925 Cedar Avenue.

According to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Summary of Deposit data, the branch reported almost $42 million in deposits as of June 30, 2015.

Pending customary closing conditions, including obtaining regulatory approval, the completion of the transaction is expected to occur in the second half of 2016.

Royal Credit Union earlier this year entered into an agreement to acquire Capital Bank (Saint Paul, MN).

In 2010, Royal Credit Union acquired the 11 branches and $177 million in deposits from Anchor Bank (WI).

Read the press release.

Underserved Area Bill Adds Reporting Requirement

H.R. 5541 (Financial Services for the Underserved Act of 2016) adds a new reporting requirement for a federal credit union that adds an underserved area.

Currently, only federal credit unions with a multiple common bond charter are permitted to add underserved areas to their fields of membership. However, these multiple common bond credit unions are not required to report information regarding how they are serving those underserved areas.

H.R. 5541 will permit all federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their fields of membership; but requires them to report information on the underserved areas added.

Specifically, a federal credit union that receives an underserved area approval from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) will be required to report annually on the number of members who are members due to the underserved area application and the number of offices or facilities maintained by the credit union in the underserved area.

The bill would also require NCUA to publish this information annually.

Read the bill.

Dayton City Commission to Sell Real Estate to CU for $10

The Dayton (Ohio) City Commission on June 29 approved the sale of land on Liberty Street to CODE Credit Union for $10.

CODE Credit Union plans to build a two-story, 8,600 square foot building on the lot at the cost of $2.4 million.

The City Commission justified the sale of the land because it believed it was in the public interest. The City Commission cited that this transaction would promote economic development, foster job creation, and improve the quality of life within the City of Dayton.

CODE Credit Union at the end of the first quarter of 2016 had $117 million in assets. The credit union reported a profit of $318,402 for 2015.

It appears that the credit union got a sweetheart deal.

But is the selling of a plot of land for $10 to a profitable credit union in the public interest?

Read the June 29 meeting agenda.