Wednesday, August 26, 2026

The SAFE Credit Union Merger; Board And CEO Cash Out Members And Sacramento!

   Well Folks, It's Finally Hit The Fan!

✔  The SAFE Board and CEO have finally been required to tell SAFE  member-owners what a great deal this merger is for them! Hope as you read the synopsis you will fully appreciate who "them" is...

✅ The official text of the highly limited ['this ain't all of it folks!] can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NCUA-2026-1552 [click on "Documents", then download "Supporting/Related materials"] The disclosure is from SAFE CEO Faye Nabhani.

😎 But to save you a little time, here is a succinct summary from one of our [in]famous blog commenters !!! 

  1.  ðŸ–•A total of $14.56 million in payments to executives that were triggered by this merger. No worries, they're only paying out 33 basis points of the members capital to executives. 
  2.   ðŸ–•The exec payouts equate to about half of the amount of the interest paid to SAFE members so far this year. Instead of paying execs, how about better rates and make the home grants 3 or 4 million instead of $500,000. Cool member benefit - for all 60 out of the 245,000 members lucky enough to get it.  
  3.  ðŸ–•The stated, quantified benefits to SAFE members are $7.4 million, spread across 245,000 members, or just over one-half of the amount being paid to 5 executives. I repeat: 245,000 owners get $7.4 million, 5 execs get $14.56 million.  
  4.  ðŸ–• Interesting approach to tack on a vote for donations to community partners. That shouldn't be legal to add this vote.  If it is, clever little PR move to distract and act like they can't afford to do it themselves.  
  5.  ðŸ–•Payouts to the community and execs, but no reserve distribution to members. The stated reason is because SAFE's capital is not higher than Boeing's. That's backward logic. SAFE's capital is $177 million in EXCESS of what's required to be considered WELL capitalized. But no, they can't afford these benefits unless they merge, and now that they're merging to where the continuing credit union will have an even more extreme excess capital position, they refuse to let member owners have any of their money.
  6.  ðŸ–•Carefully worded language about the retention bonus payments through the "post-merger transition." The translation of that: Faye is leaving in 18 months. The divisions and departments will report into their functional heads. SAFE will be gobbled up, Sacramento job losses wlll be local control? LOL? 
  7.  ðŸ–•2nd place payout winners? SAFE directors. Boeing reports their execs spend 6 hours a month doing their work. 2 lucky winners get the same job and go from zero pay to $125,000 a year or $400 an hour. Those two directors voted for and strongly recommend this merger. Hmm.. nothing to see here. (and no, being a director of a CU seven times larger doesn't not mean it's seven times more work, or seven times harder) 
   As they say down South: "Well, Bless your heart!" [link] 
 
😎 DON'T MISS THE FURTHER COMMENTS BELOW!!!!!
 
   
😎 DON'T MISS THE FURTHER COMMENTS BELOW!!!!!  
 

   Od-y-ous, entirely a Trojan !!!!!!

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Raw Deal Mergers: Our Govenor Jumps In Too!

  With some hard questions!

In the prior post RAW DEAL [link] you found our NC State Treasurer Brad Briner, voicing severe doubts about the giveaway merger of WakeMed - a community owned, not-for-profit, tax exempt, cooperative hospital. Yeah, sounds a lot like a credit union!

✅ Commenter: "You're exaggerating again, that's just North Carolina politics!

Funny that you should mention that, because the Governor's office just jumped into the fray with a few questions too!  Read entire letter here [link]. 

  1. Why did WakeMed decide to seek a merger?
  2.  What other financing or strategic options were considered? 
  3. What guarantees has Atrium provided to ensure that WakeMed’s prices will not increase ?
  4. Why did WakeMed agree to a governance structure that limits local control?
  5.  What guarantees  ensure that WakeMed continues to devote more than 12 percent of revenue to indigent care?
  6. Has WakeMed assured itself that it could not secure greater investment from Atrium or other potential partners? If so, how?

😎  Governor Josh Stein is a Democrat, State Treasurer Brad Briner is a Republican! And, just for the record neither is up for election until 2028! 

😎  Why shouldn't the leaders of our State be asking these reasonable questions about a merger that appears to diminish a billion dollar community asset - established, built, financed, and owned by local folks? 

Who is the State suppose to protect? 

  The Board, the CEO,  "the System", the co-op ... or the citizens?