NCUA Closes Community One FCU

NCUA closed $159 million Community One FCU of Las Vegas on Tuesday, August 11th.

Community One was hard hit by the deteriorating Las Vegas economy. Between June of 2008 and June of 2009, as losses grew at the credit union, Community One’s net worth ratio slipped from 7.10 percent to 0.55 percent.

According to NCUA press release, America First FCU was the winning bidder for Community One and was authorized to purchase and assume the assets and shares (deposits) of Community One.

What was not disclosed by NCUA in its press release was the cost of this failure to the NCUSIF; how much of the assets were assumed by America First; and did America First pay a premium for Community One and if so, how much?

As a matter of public policy, NCUA needs to provide more transparency regarding its handling of credit union failures.