SECU What's Next? No Adults In The Room?... Misappropriation #4.

  Playing at being a banker.

We're taking a look at the growing sense of internal rot within the credit union movement nationwide and specifically at the financial loss credit union member-owners are, or may soon incur. Using just SECU members as an example, the stakes are high in North Carolina  [link] - $6 billion!

The national alarm is being raised on many fronts, one example of which you saw yesterday in MisApp #3 [link]. Chip Filson's blog is full of detail and a difficult slog. But, here's the bottom line: What is a Massachusetts credit union chartered in the 1950's to serve a local Air Force base doing buying a commercial bank on the eastern shore of Maryland? 

There doesn't appear to be any sound economic nor financial justification for this non-transparent and perhaps non-arm's length purchase. The member-owners certainly didn't come up with this idea and appear powerless to object. The regulators are sitting on their as-... e-r-r... hands. There are no adults in the room to supervise the "child's play".  Any of this sound vaguely familiar?

In the last 18 months 32 credit unions have acquired 35 banks with assets of $10+ billion [link]. Would you suspect these sort of for-profit, commercial bank purchases will reinforce support for the tax exempt status of credit unions - including SECU?

😎 If you answered "yes" to the above question, I have a bridge in Brooklyn - and a bank on the eastern shore of Maryland - to sell to you.

 

Can't happen in North Carolina... you're at risk, already has! 

 

 

SECU What's Next? The Honey Pot... Miappropriation #3

  Show me the money honey?

Winnie the Pooh had an insatiable appetite for "hunny", some people have the same problem with money! Where I live folks are often willing to stick up a convenience store for $50 bucks!

What would happen if you had $6 billion bucks lying around in North Carolina with nobody's name on it? Would the flies find the honey? You betcha! 

We've stopped to take a look at a growing nationwide threat to credit unions and their members - that means you! The threat is the misappropriation of a credit union's "member equity" (also sometimes called reserves, capital or net worth) via mergers, insider trading and payouts, bank purchases, and charter conversions [link]. The flies are circling, folks!

Using SECU as an example in MisApp #2 [Pot of Gold - link], we figured out as an SECU member that your "share of the pot" was at least $2,000, family of four - $8,000+! That would be sweet, right? That @$2,000 individual member-ownership amount is about the average for every credit union in the U.S. - including your credit union!

So are you interested in hearing about what's going on, or do you prefer to just let someone else grab it?

Could never happen in North Carolina? Wanna bet... say $6 billion bucks? 

Your choice, your money!

  $6 billion bucks is a lot of convenience stores!