CU CEO Earns Almost $1.9 Million in 2017, Despite Problems with Taxi Medallion Loans

Despite losing almost $97.2 million for 2017, the CEO of Progressive Credit Union (New York, NY) was paid approximately $1.9 million.

The credit union's performance was adversely affected by defaulting taxi medallion loans arising from the disruption of the taxi medallion industry.

Robert Familant, CEO and Treasurer of Progressive Credit Union, had total compensation of $1,931,827 for 2017 with a base compensation of $1,870,722, according to the credit union's Form 990 (click on image to enlarge).

While Familant's compensation was scaled back from almost $2.3 million in 2016, this 2017 pay package seems to deny the reality of depth and scope of the problems facing the credit union.

The credit union had $470.6 million in assets at the end of 2017.

Progressive Credit Union was taken over by Pentagon Federal Credit Union (McLean, VA) via an emergency merger in early 2019.

Greater Iowa CU Buys Naming Rights to Ball Field

The City of Waukee (Iowa) and the Waukee Betterment Foundation announced that Greater Iowa Credit Union will be the sole naming rights sponsor of Waukee’s Miracle League™ ball field, which is slated to open in 2022.

Greater Iowa Credit Union donated $250,000 to the project.

But it seems to me that the credit union received something in value --- the naming rights to the ball field -- in return for the funds. So, is this really a donation.

Read the press release.

Benefits and Challenges of A Bank Buying A CU

There has been a recent trend of credit unions buying banks; however, a bank buying a credit union remains very rare.

But in an article on the Credit Union Executive Society website, Steve Morrissette examines the value proposition of a bank acquiring a credit union.

The article discusses benefits for a bank buying a credit unions and the benefits to a credit union in selling to a bank.

For example, Morrissette writes that credit unions tend to hold core deposits and have an expertise in consumer banking. This would make them attractive to banks trying to deepen their retail banking operations.

Credit unions would benefit from selling to a bank because they would gain access to capital and business lending expertise.

The article noted that members would benefit from a one time special dividend, but also, from technology, especially mobile banking technology and cybersecurity.

However, Morrissette believes these acquisitions will remain rare. He points out the regulatory approval process can be daunting. Additionally, there is the potential for large attrition of members and employees.

Despite these concerns, this article is worth reading.

Read the article.

SF Taxi Drivers Receiving Letters Demanding Full Repayment

KPIX E is reporting that some San Francisco taxi drivers are receiving letters from a credit union demanding full repayment of balloon loans on their taxi medallions.

The drivers said they cannot afford to make the payments.

The loans were originated by San Francisco Federal Credit Union, which had the exclusive right to fund the purchase of taxi medallions. These loans were later sold as participation interests to other financial institutions.

Read the story.

Landmark CU Signs Sponsorship Deal with Pro Hockey Team

The Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting that Landmark Credit Union (New Berlin, WI) has entered into a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.

The Milwaukee Admirals will play on the Landmark Credit Union Rink at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena over the duration of the deal.

Landmark will be the sponsor of the Admirals' smartphone app and the Admirals Pucks for Patriots Program.

Also, Landmark will have signage throughout the arena, including a ticket window, and have an animated Landmark Lighthouse that will be displayed on the arena's video board following each Admirals home game.

The price tag of the sponsorship deal was nor disclosed.

Read the story.

Trade Groups Urge FCC to Protect Lawful Calls

In a comment letter filed on July 24, a coalition of trade groups urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect lawful calls placed by legitimate businesses from telephone companies’ call-blocking programs.

The letter came as the FCC seeks to encourage the implementation of a framework for authenticating calls — called “SHAKEN/STIR” — by providing a safe harbor from liability for telephone companies that block calls that are not authenticated under the framework.

The groups reiterated previous concerns that legitimate calls are currently being incorrectly labeled as spam or nuisance and may be blocked. To ensure legitimate calls are not blocked, the trade groups urged the FCC to prohibit telephone companies from blocking “unsigned” calls under the SHAKEN/STIR framework until that framework is fully implemented. Once the framework has been implemented, the FCC should permit telephone companies to block only calls that are not authenticated or, if authenticated, those calls that the telephone company has determined, with a high degree of certainty, are illegal calls.

The trade groups also urged the FCC to expand its proposed “Critical Calls List” of numbers from which outbound calls may not be blocked to include numbers used to place fraud alerts, data breach notifications, remediation messages, electric service notifications, product recall notices, prescription notices and mortgage servicing calls required by federal or state law.

The trade groups signing onto the letter include the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management, American Bankers Association, ACA International, American Financial Services Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association, Edison Electric Institute, Independent Community Bankers of America, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, and National Retail Federation.

Read the letter.

Troubling Proposal from NCUA

The National Credit Union Administration is proposing that an FCU will be required to develop and maintain a written plan if its public unit and nonmember shares, taken together with borrowings, exceed 70 percent of paid-in and unimpaired capital and surplus.

This proposal ignores that the reliance on volatile and expensive nonmember deposits and borrowed funds could expose the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) to a loss.

For example, Beehive Credit Union, which failed, held up to 18 percent of its deposits in high-cost nonmember deposits. The Material Loss Review of this failure noted that these high-cost nonmember deposits partially contributed to the $27.6 million loss to the NCUSIF.

According to the Material Loss Review of Chetco Federal Credit Union. the credit union's management failed to develop an adequate liquidity plan to address rapid loan growth. The report noted that management funded its rapid loan growth through a combination of borrowed funds and deposit products with above-market rate. But as Chetco's financial condition deteriorated, a corporate credit union reduced its line of credit, subjecting the credit union to liquidity risk. The failure of Chetco resulted in an estimated loss to the NCUSIF of $76.5 million.

The NCUA Board should require all FCUs to develop and maintain written plans when an FCU is relying on high-cost, volatile nonmember shares and borrowings to fund its operations above a de minimis threshold.

MidFlorida CU to Buy Naming Rights of Civic Center

Port St. Lucie (FL) City Council approved selling the naming rights of the Civic Center to MidFlorida Credit Union (Lakeland, FL).

The 100,000 square-foot Civic Center will be called MidFlorida Civic Center.

The naming rights deal is for five years. The credit union will pay $195,000 annually for the naming rights and has the option to renew for an addition five years.

More details can be found here.

First South Financial CU to Buy WinFirst Bank

First South Financial Credit Union (Bartlett, TN) has entered into an agreement to acquire WinFirst Financial Corp., the holding company for $138 million WinFirst Bank (Winchester, KY).

First South Financial is a $589 million credit union with 18 locations. WinFirst Bank has two locations in Winchester.

The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to customary regulatory approval and completion of closing conditions.

Read more.

Proposal Would Allow FCUs to Leverage Nonmember Funding

The National Credit Union Administration has proposed a rule that will allow a federal credit union (FCU) to leverage funding sources other than member shares.

The proposed rule will allow an FCU to receive public unit and nonmember shares up to 50 percent of the credit union's paid-in and unimpaired capital and surplus less any public unit and nonmember shares.

Also, the proposed rule would only require an FCU to develop and maintain a written plan if its public unit and nonmember shares combined with total borrowings exceed 70 percent of paid-in and unimpaired capital and surplus.

According to the transcript from the May 2019 NCUA Board meeting, the proposed rule would potentially allow an FCU to increase its funding from sources other than member shares, from 56 percent of assets to 65 percent of assets.

In other words, this proposal could potentially increase leverage for the entire credit union industry by 6 percent or $135 billion, based on current net worth levels.

Unfortunately, the proposal could erode the cooperative character of the credit union industry.

The hallmark of credit unions is that member savings fund member loans. This proposed rule would permit an FCU to finance a greater percentage of its loans to members with nonmember funds.

Opinion: Congress Should Address Large CU Unfair Tax Advantages and Increase Transparency

An opinion piece by Thomas Aiello in RealClear Markets called on Congress to address the unfair tax advantages of large credit unions, as they have strayed from their mission.

Aiello wrote that the industry's deferential regulator has turned a blind eye to large credit unions' abuses of their preferential tax treatment.

For example, Aiello noted that many of these large credit unions allow virtually anyone to join.

In addition, he pointed out that these big credit unions are buying taxpaying community banks, "permanently taking taxpaying business entities off treasuries’ tax rolls and shrinking the tax base." Aiello wrote this is a "textbook example of poor tax policy."

He called on Congress to require all credit unions to file Form 990s, as federal credit unions are not required to file Form 990s. He stated that the "Form 990 is the main enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with Section 13602 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which requires a 21 percent excise tax on not-for-profit executive compensation above $1 million."

The op-ed noted that this preferential tax treatment should be retained for small credit unions with a limited common bond.

Thomas Aiello is a policy and government affairs associate with the National Taxpayers Union.

Read the opinion piece.

Latest Auction Results: NYC Taxi Medallion Prices Tumble Further

Crain's New York Business is reporting that 60 New York City (NYC) taxi medallions sold in auction on July 17 for $110,500 per medallion.

The auction began with a stalking horse bid of $6.5 million, or about $108,000 per medallion.

Last week, only 3 out of 16 medallions to be auctioned off were sold with the top bid of $138,000.

These prices are not good news for the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and suggests losses may come in higher than initially estimated.

Read more.

Sunmark Federal Credit Union to Defect from Federal Charter

Sunmark Federal Credit Union (latham, NY) has applied to federal and state regulators to convert from a federal to a state-chartered credit union and for an expansion in its geographic footprint.

According to the $678 million credit union, the National Credit Union Administration has already approved the conversion, but still needs the approval of the New York Department of Financial Services and the credit union's members.

The credit union stated that the New York state charter is more flexible than the federal charter.

Currently, Sunmark is limited to serving people who live, work, worship, attend school, volunteer, or regularly conduct business in Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Montgomery and Schoharie Counties. As a state chartered credit union, Sunnmark will be able to add the counties of Columbia, Greene, Onondaga, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester.

In addition, the credit union will be able to serve persons that belongs to a business or association that has signed up with the Sunmark to make membership available to its employees or association members outside of New York State.

Members of Sunmark will vote on the proposed charter conversion on July 31.

This would be the second large federal credit union headquartered in New York to defect from the federal charter. Earlier this year, Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union voted to switch from a federal to a state charter.

Read more.

Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges VyStar CU Charged Multiple NSF Fees on Same Item

The Jacksonville Daily Record is reporting that a class=action lawsuit has been filed against VyStar Credit Union (Jacksonville, FL) alleging that the credit union non-sufficient-funds (NSF) fees on the same item.

The complaint states the assessment of multiple NSF fees on the same transaction violated the credit union's account agreement.

The lawsuit is asking for "the court or a jury to award the plaintiffs damages and for the court to prohibit VyStar from continuing the policy of charging multiple NSF fees for rejecting the same item."

Read more.

NCUA Raises the CRE Appraisal Threshold to $1 Million

By a two-to-one vote, the National Credit Union Administration board on July 18 finalized a proposal to raise the threshold at which credit unions must obtain appraisals for commercial real estate (CRE) transactions from $250,000 to $1 million.

However, this new level is out of step with other federal financial regulators, which have set the CRE appraisal threshold for banks at $500,000.

The final rule also exempts real estate transactions located in rural areas from appraisal requirements if certain conditions are met.

Cato Institute: Don't Extend CRA to CUs

The Cato Institute recently wrote that it would be a mistake to extend the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to credit unions.

According to the paper, applying CRA regulations to credit unions would be counterproductive and impose additional compliance burden.

The Cato Institute argues that the credit union common-bond requirements are at once redundant and incompatible with CRA. The article notes that common-bond provisions ensure that credit unions are serving their constituents, which is the objective of CRA.

But the existence of a common-bond is not prima facie evidence that a credit union is serving its entire field of membership. It is possible that the credit union is only serving a small segment of its membership.

The paper also states that CRA compliance relates to bank lending activities within a geographic area. The author argues that there are credit unions with a common-bond based upon profession, social, or demographic groups and thus, CRA is not applicable.

There are two problems with this argument. First, the number of credit unions with community or geographic common-bonds has grown. These credit unions should be subject to a lending test. Second, the paper ignores the fact that Massachusetts examines all state chartered credit unions regardless of common bond. This suggests that CRA can be structured in such a way to evaluate whether a credit union is serving its defined community.

Furthermore, the paper states that evidence shows that credit unions are already serving CRA-targeted populations. But the paper ignores research by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which found that state chartered credit unions in Massachusetts outperformed federal credit unions in Massachusetts in serving underserved communities.

The paper makes an additional argument that the common-bond provisions facilitate risk management by giving credit unions information about the credit quality of their borrowers. This is a quaint old-fashion notion about how credit unions operated. While this may be true for tiny church-run credit unions, it does not reflect today's risk management practices of large credit unions.

The paper does conclude that if policymakers have issues about the changing nature of the credit union business model, this can be addressed by revising the Federal Credit Union Act.

Read the paper.

Mountain America CU Buys Naming Rights to Event Center

Mountain America Credit Union (Sandy, UT) will pay $4.5 million for the naming rights to the proposed Idaho Falls Event Center, according to the Idaho Falls Auditorium District.

The proposed event center will be called the Mountain America Center.

Mountain America’s branding will be visible throughout the facility, with Mountain America Center prominent on the interior and exterior of the building, including a digital marquee sign along the freeway.

The 48,000 square-foot facility will include 11,500 square feet of meeting space and a 5,500 seat arena, which will host sporting and entertainment events.

Read the press release.

Corporate America Family CU to Acquire Ben Franklin Financial

Corporate America Family Credit Union (Elgin, IL) has purchased Ben Franklin Financial (Arlington Heights, IL) , the holding company for Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois, in an all-cash transaction.

As of March 31, 2019, Ben Franklin Bank operated two bank branches in Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows, Illinois and had $93.2 million in assets.

Under the terms of the purchase and assumption agreement, Ben Franklin Financial stockholders are currently estimated to receive between $10.33 and $10.70 in cash consideration for each share of Ben Franklin Financial common stock.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of each party and is expected to close in early 2020, subject to customary closing conditions, the approval of Ben Franklin Financial stockholders, regulatory approvals, and if required, approval of the depositors of Ben Franklin Bank.

This is the third Illinois bank to be acquired by a credit union.

Read the press release.

Golden Eagle Community Bank Officially Joins Advia CU

The acquisition of Golden Eagle Community Bank (Woodstock, IL) by Advia Credit Union (Parchment, MI) was completed on July 15.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation approved the acquisition on May 30.

This is the third bank to be acquired by Advia Credit Union.

Pentagon FCU Settles Claim Filed with NLRB

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (McLean, VA) settled in June a claim filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to the Register-Guard.

PenFed Workers United, a group of employees in Eugene, Oregon, filed the complaint against the credit union for “protected concerted activity” including removing fliers put up by Workers United spreading its message, coercive actions and retaliations against workers.

The company settled the claim June 21 by agreeing to put up signage that confirms that the protected activity is allowed, according to the case docket.

There are two other related cases against Pentagon Federal Credit Union.

Read more.

Taxi Medallion Sold for $138,000 in Auction

Crain's New York Business is reporting that the auction of foreclosed New York City taxi medallions owned by Aspire Federal Credit Union (Clark, NJ) on July 11 hit a new record low auction price.

Sixteen medallions were being auctioned, but only 3 medallions were sold.

The auction started at a price of $130,000 with the highest bid being $138,000 for one medallion. Two other medallions sold for $136,000 and $137,000.

When the auctioneer moved to a group of medallions with a floor price of $140,000, there were no bidders.

A year earlier, 131 medallions were sold in auction for $170,000 each.

The article notes that private sales of taxi medallions have recently gone for as low as $100,000, according to the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

This new price information would suggest that taxi medallion assets that are the possession of the National Credit Union Administration could experience an additional haircut.

Read the article.

Former Melrose CU CEO Indicted

Former Melrose Credit Union CEO, Alan Kaufman, along with Long Island businessman, Tony Georgiton, were indicted on July 11 in a bribery scheme.

According to the indictment, Kaufman accepted free housing and financing for the purchase of his personal residence from Georgiton in exchange for the approval of millions of dollars in loans to Georgiton’s companies at favorable terms. Kaufman approved the loans, even though the head of the loan department refused to sign off on the loans.

Kaufman also is alleged to have arranged for Melrose CU to pay $2 million to a company owned by Georgiton for the naming rights to a ballroom in Queens, New York, despite Melrose's marketing director stating that the naming rights deal was only worth $50,000 per year and had minimal value to the credit union.

In addition, Kaufman is charged with accepting lavish vacations, including to Paris and Hawaii, as bribes from a media company, in exchange for Melrose CU purchasing increased advertising with that company.

Kaufman is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and two counts of bribery of a financial institution officer, while Georgiton is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery of a financial institution officer.

According to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, both men "face criminal charges for their self-dealing."

Melrose Credit Union specialized in taxi medallion lending and was liquidated on August 31, 2018, becoming the most expensive natural person credit union failure to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.

Read the press release.

Read the indictment.

Six CUs Agree to Fined for Late Filing Q4 2018 Call Reports

The National Credit Union administration is reporting that 6 federally insured credit unions have agreed to pay civil monetary penalties for filing late Call Reports in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The total amount of penalties paid was $5,073.

Penalties for credit unions filing late Call Reports ranged from $156 to $2,665.

The size of the civil monetary penalties is based on three factors: the credit union’s asset size, its Call Report filing history, and the length of the filing delay. The Federal Credit Union Act requires any funds received through civil monetary penalties be sent to the U.S. Treasury.

Three of the six credit unions had assets of less than $10 million, and three had assets between $10 million and $50 million. Four of the six credit unions had been late in at least one prior quarter.

CUs Paying Up in Bank Deals

At the halfway point of 2019, the number of announced deals by credit unions acquiring banks has surpassed the number of announced deals for all of 2018, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In some of these deals, credit unions are offering a higher price than other financial institutions.

For example, the price of the deal between Verve Credit Union (Oshkosh,WI) and South Central Bank (Chicago, IL) was reported to be above the going rate of 1.5 times book value for Chicago community banks.

There are several reasons why credit unions can pay a higher multiple for a community bank versus other financial institutions.

The credit union tax exemption gives credit unions the ability to offer a higher price for community banks.

But also, credit unions are not subject to shareholder pressure.

If a bank overpays in an acquisition, it will see the market value of its stock drop. However, this is not the case for credit unions, which do not have shareholders.

I suspect most credit union members are not aware that their credit union is acquiring a bank or how much their credit union is paying bank shareholders.

If the members did know, they would probably wonder why this money is not going to them.

Lawsuit Alleges Improper OD Practices by Elevations CU

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Elevations Credit Union (Boulder, CO) for improper overdraft (OD) practices, according to the Daily Camera.

The lawsuit alleges that the credit union assessed OD fees on purchases even though the account had enough funds to cover the transaction.

The lawsuit filed on July 3 in the Boulder District Court.

Read the story.

Report Criticizes NCUA for Not Working with Struggling Taxi Medallion Owners

A report from the New York City Mayor's Office is critical of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) over its failure to work with struggling taxi medallion owners.

The report found that drivers had median debt of $500,000 -- well above the current value for New York City taxi medallions in the secondary market. Only 35 percent of the drivers owe less today than they originally borrowed. The report found that many drivers borrowed against their medallions for other purposes, such as home purchase, buying a car, or paying for college or education.

Fifty-one percent of the surveyed drivers stated they are struggling to pay their monthly bills and 26 percent were considering bankruptcy.

According to the report, credit unions and credit unions in NCUA receivership held about two-third of all medallion loans based upon survey results.

The report found that LOMTO Federal Credit Union and Melrose Credit Union had among the highest interest rates on taxi medallion loans at 4.6 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. It also found that First Jersey Credit Union had the highest average monthly loan payment at $3,825.22.

The report noted that only 15 percent of drivers indicated that their lender had lowered their monthly payment or reduced their loan principal.

The report stated that credit unions taken over by NCUA are among the least likely lenders to work with taxi drivers struggling to afford their loan payments. For example, drivers reported that Melrose Credit Union had taken actions on only 9 percent of their loans to either lower their monthly payments or reduce their loan principal. Only 8 percent of drivers with a loan from LOMTO Federal Credit Union saw a lower monthly payment or a reduction in loan principal and no borrower from First Jersey Credit Union received a lower monthly payment or a principal reduction.

The report does not address the role of ride-sharing companies in disrupting the New York City taxi market.

If Congress decides to investigate NCUA's supervision with regard to medallion lending by credit unions, this report should provide grist for the mill.

Read the report.

City Hall to Vote on Subsidized Lease for CU

The Orlando City Council will lease space to Orlando Federal Credit Union (Orlando, FL) for $1 per year.

The city council is scheduled on July 8th to approve an extension of the lease agreement.

Under the agreement, the credit union will continue to lease a 521 square-foot space on the first floor of City Hall, which it has occupied since 2004.

The lease agreement is for 5 years. The credit union will also provide a no-fee ATM for City Hall employees and guests.

Read the agenda item.

Consumer Credit at CUs Contracts in May

Outstanding consumer credit at credit unions fell for the month of May, according to the Federal Reserve's G. 19 report. This was the second monthly decline in 2019.

At the end of May, outstanding consumer credit at credit unions was $473.7 billion. This was down from $475 billion in April.

As a reference point, total outstanding consumer credit across all lenders increased during May to $4.0449 trillion from $4.0212 trillion in April.

The decline in consumer credit at credit unions was due to a drop in nonrevolving credit. Nonrevolving credit fell by approximately $2.6 billion during May to $410.6 billion.

On the other hand, revolving credit posted an almost $1.4 billion increase to $63.2 billion.

WI CU Regulator Approved and Denied MBL Waiver Requests

The Wisconsin Office of Credit Unions approved one member business loan (MBL) waiver and denied another MBL waiver, according to the Credit Union Activities Report.

The Office of Credit Unions approved on May 31 a waiver request of Hayward Community Credit Union (Hayward, WI). The waiver was for six loans to exceed the the loan-to-value requirement. DFI-CU 72.07 sets the loan-to-value requirements for member business loans.

The state regulator also denied on May 24th a request from Verve, a Credit Union (Oshkosh, WI) for a waiver of the MBL rule. The credit union was seeking a waiver on the aggregate amount of business loans to a member or associated members.

201 CUs Borrowed from Fed's Discount Window in Q2 2017

The Federal Reserve reported that 201 credit unions borrowed from the Discount Window 221 times during the second quarter of 2017.

The aggregate amount borrowed was slightly more than $152.7 million during the quarter.

The average amount borrowed by credit unions was $691.1 thousand. The median Discount Window borrowing was $10,000.

The maximum amount borrowed was $15 million by two credit unions -- Northern FCU (Watertown, NY) and Hiway FCU (Saint Paul, MN).

Sea Comm FCU (Massena, NY) visited the Discount Window 11 times during the quarter -- the most by any credit union.

The vast majority of the credit unions borrowing from the Discount Window used the primary credit program, which is available for the healthiest institutions. One credit union used the secondary credit program and another credit union borrowed twice from the seasonal credit program, which assists small depository institutions in managing significant seasonal swings in their loans and deposits.

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

Teachers CU and School District Enter into Naming Rights and Banking Service Deal

Teachers Credit Union (South Bend, IN) has entered into a banking service agreement with Beech Grove City School District.

The school district transitioned its banking services from Fifth Third Bank to Teachers Credit Union.

In addition, Inside Indiana Business is reporting that the credit union bought the naming rights to the stadium at the high school. The stadium will be called TCU Veterans Stadium.

The agreement is for 10-years and will cost $1.2 million.

The deal goes into effect on June 30th.

Read the minutes.

Read Inside Indiana Business.