Common Bond of 50 Years of Age or Better

In preparation for a speech, I became aware of a common bond for U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union (Albuquerque, NM), formerly U.S. New Mexico Federal Credit Union, comprised of people who are 50 years of age or better and residents of New Mexico.

However, a common bond of being 50 years of age or better is overly broad and poorly defined.

Age by itself is not sufficient to show a commonality of interest or interaction among individuals. Also, what does better mean?

Simply said, this group fails to meet the requirement for a common bond.

But what is even more dumbfounding is how the National Credit Union Administration approved this common bond.

This is just further confirmation that this agency is ä rubber stamp for the industry.

NEFCU Launches Anti-Bank TV Commercial

Newsday is reporting on a new TV commercial by Nassau Educators FCU (NEFCU) that takes a shot at bankers as uncaring.

The commercial shows three bankers dancing and singing "If I Only Had a Heart" from The Wizard of Oz.

However, after reading online reviews about NEFCU, a couple of the reviews of the $2 billion credit union would question whether this credit union had a heart.

Read the story.

Matz's Comment Undermines Integrity of Rulemaking Process

Despite being in the middle of the risk-based capital proposal comment period, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Debbie Matz announced on March 9 that the agency will issue later this year a proposal to count supplemental capital in full in its risk-based capital numerator.

This announcement seems to undermine the rulemaking process.

NCUA put out for a 90 day comment period its proposed rule with comments due by April 27.

As part of the risk-based capital proposal, the NCUA Board requested comments to several questions about supplemental capital, including "[s]hould additional supplemental forms of capital be included in the risk-based capital ratio numerator and how would including such capital protect the NCUSIF from losses?"

It appears that the agency has already made up its mind on this topic. It will count supplemental capital as part of the risk-based capital ratio numerator.

So much for seeking input from the public on this issue. This agency is making a mockery of rulemaking process.

The agency should have remained silent on this issue until the comment period ended.

Read the proposed rule.

Read Matz's speech.

Insight CU Pays $400,000 to be Preferred CU for Lake-Sumter State College

Insight Credit Union (Orlando, FL) has been named the preferred credit union for Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC).

The agreement will provide $50,000 annually over the next eight years to the LSSC Foundation.

In addition to the financial support, the partnership will provide for a co-branded debit card; creation and facilitation of a financial literacy program for faculty, staff and students; and specific support for the athletics department, theater program and the LSSC Foundation.

Read the press release.

Navy FCU to Spend $114.6 Million to Expand Its HQ Operations

Navy Federal Credit Union will invest $114.6 million to expand its headquarters operation in the Town of Vienna in Fairfax County.

The investment will include a new four-story, 234,000-square foot office building and a parking deck on a 10.8-acre site. An elevated walkway will connect the new building to the rest of the headquarters campus.

Governor McAuliffe also approved a $1 million grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Fairfax County with the project.

Furthermore, additional funding and services to support Navy FCU’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Read the Governor's press release.

Read Fairfax County Economic Development Authority press release.

Max CU Employee Shares Customer Personal Information on Facebbok

An employee of Max Credit Union in Montgomery, Alabama reportedly posted a customer's personal information on Facebook.

Max officials say the accused employee has been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Read the story.

Should Federal Reserve Governor Have CU Background?

Representative Pete Aguilar (D - CA), who was a former executive for Arrowhead Central Credit Union in San Bernardino, CA, responding to a question from Credit Union Times stated that he believes that someone with a credit union background should be on the Federal Reserve Board.

Credit Union Times: There was a provision in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act that was recently reauthorized, which required the president to nominate a person with a community banking background to the Federal Reserve board.

Do you think someone with a credit union background should be on the Fed board as well?

Aguilar: I do. I think many governmental bodies would benefit from hearing different perspectives.

We’ve seen that within the California regulatory structure, the California Department of Financial Institutions had a deputy specifically related to credit unions.

I think institutionalizing that and making sure that you are hearing different perspective from an important industry is always a good thing.

However, at this time, I don't believe it is appropriate to have someone with credit union background on the Federal Reserve Board.

Comparing the California Department of Financial Institutions to the Federal Reserve is a faulty comparison. The California Department of Financial Institutions supervises state chartered credit unions. State chartered credit unions are stakeholders of the California Department of Financial Institutions. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve does not examine credit unions.

Also, many of the regulations that impact credit unions that were formerly under the jurisdiction for the Federal Reserve have been transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Moreover, credit unions are able to share their perspectives with the Federal Reserve as several credit unions currently belong to the community depository institution advisory council.

A final thought, do credit unions think that a person with community banking background should be on the National Credit Union Administration Board?

Read the story.