Credit Union-to-Bank Charter Conversions....

Seem to be hearing that same old "charter conversion chit-chatter", arising once again in some segments of the credit union community.  

The financial logic supporting a credit union-to-bank charter conversion never has passed "the sniff test" in the past - and still doesn't!  But, there are always a few snake oil peddlers willing to "Pssst!" you up a blind alley with claims of a "magic cure" for all that ails your credit union.   Most of those "cures" are best suited only for the washing of hogs. Usually just raw greed papered over with a thin veneer of "wink-wink, nod-nod", "please pass the cash".

The goals of a credit union-to-bank charter conversion are always suspect and the results most often turn out to be "pretty ugly" - kind of like trying to crossbreed Lassie with a pit bull! Just not a good idea! Always creates a puppy which will "bite the hand that breeds you"....

So, if you have run out of ideas for your credit union, have loss your energy to lead, and are simply marking time in life...   

Why don't you just step aside and let a "fresh face" take over?

Why loiter and risk this type of outcome...

Mergers and Consolidation... A Clearcut Concern

Ever notice how frequently we seem to forget the original insight underlying our castles of complexity? Simple truths, like simple pleasures, are often overlooked in our rush from moment to monument. Remember the last time you stepped from a chilling shade into a burst of warm sunlight? Every cell in your body shuddered its approval. What an exquisite delight.

Chanced into several patches of sunshine recently on the West Coast in Calaveras County. This part of California was made famous by Bret Harte and by Mark Twain's short story about the local "jumping frogs". Never been too impressed by frogs. In North Carolina frogs are everywhere, part of the scenery; in fact, frogs are so numerous, we've even been known to elect one from time to time.  

I'd come to see the California redwoods. Calaveras County has two groves of these magnificent trees. A "Sequoia" redwood is a perfect example of the expression, "You have to see it to believe it." A 300-foot tall tree, 30 feet in circumference? No Easterner will ever accept on faith that the "first limb 150 feet up (!) on the General Sherman Sequoia tree is larger than any tree east of the Mississippi River". Come on now. Just sounds like more of the usual California hype – “Our weather is perfect, our culture is unique, our women are prettier, our budget deficit the largest." Well, at least in terms of Sequoias, the rap is true.

It's kind of difficult to exaggerate about a Sequoia. "Discovered" in 1852 by Augustus T. Dowd, one of the largest trees was cut and a section shipped east for exhibition. A tree of such size was unthinkable and the exhibit was roundly branded a hoax. (The stump of the tree, by the way, was later covered with a pavilion and used as a dance hall!) You may get some feel for the enormous size of these trees when you consider that you've probably never seen a photograph of all of a Sequoia.  

You've seen the bottom part or the top half, but a "full length" photo is a rarity. To capture the full height of a Sequoia requires that you step back so far that you lose perspective! Hard to explain, but you folks in Iowa just imagine if the telephone pole along the roadside were 300 feet tall rather than just 20 feet tall. As Californians would say, "Far out, man, far out." The other difficulty in photographing Sequoias is that they grow in thickly forested areas and an unobstructed view is almost an impossibility. Clearly, a case where one can't see the tree for the forests....

Aim Carefully...

"Never insult anyone by accident."

- Robert A. Heinlein

Ecumenical Week: Preachin' To The Choir...

A church is a place in which a minister who has never been to heaven, brags about it to a group who will probably never get there.

- H. L. Mencken

[...!...]

Ecumenical Week: What's Important...?

Guess we ought to mention that attendance is another point of controversy between the Baptists and the Episcopalians.  Both groups acknowledge that regular church attendance is related to sin, but in different fashions.  

For Episcopalians, if you sin, you need to go to church. But for Baptists it's the other way around, if you don't go to church , it's a sin.

Views on forgiveness are similarly different. For

the Episcopalians, regardless of what you do, God will forgive you and you'll end up in heaven. For Baptists, even if you try to lead a perfect life, God is probably going to find fault and you're always halfway down the road to hell.  Which reminds me of this story about two ministers...

"An out of town Episcopal priest was running late one Sunday morning, to deliver a visiting sermon in a strange town.  Getting desperate to find the Episcopal church, he stopped at the local Baptist church to ask the minister for directions.  The Baptist minister was very helpful and gave quick directions to the Episcopal church.  As the Episcopal priest was jumping back into his car to hurry on, the Baptist minister called out to him: "Son, with those directions, don't worry; you'll be able to make it on time. But, I want you to know that when you get there; as far as I'm concerned you'll still be lost. Now, God bless!"

Folks say, "You should never talk about religion; it's too controversial".  Always found that to be an interestingly disturbing thought.  Why?...

Ecumenical Week: Fundamental Differences...

In case you didn't know, there are some fundamental differences between Southern Baptists and Episcopalians.

The first big difference is that Episcopalians don't use the word "fundamental" at all and there really is no such thing as an "evangelical" Episcopalian!

Ever had an Episcopalian knock on your door and ask to "share a few minutes" with you?  No, I didn't think so.  I know of no Episcopalian who can pray for more than three minutes and no Baptist who can finish in less than ten! And generally, a cocktail party is about the closest an Episcopalian has ever come to a revival.

But, we sure don't want to discuss the difference in views on alcohol between the two sects.  To Baptists alcohol is the "devil's drink"!  Communion in the Baptist Church is conducted with Welch's.  That's right - grape juice!  Consciously choosing grape juice over a full-bodied port for Communion is pretty close to abject sinning in the eyes of most Episcopalians!

In fact, Baptists are so set in their ways on alcohol that sometimes they can be downright rude about it. I mean it seems pretty impolite to me when... 

Ecumenical Week: Evangelical Episcopalians...

Church going is still very "serious business" in the South. Well, mostly. 

Let me tell you about the Episcopalians. I'm one.  

I don't think you should use that fact to condemn the whole cult.... 

After all, Episcopalians are a diverse lot.  In fact the greatest strength of the Episcopal Church is that each adherent can pretty much "believe" in the fashion which suits them best. Knowing how to chant and when to stand or kneel are about the only absolute requirements.  

You can always spot Baptists in an Episcopal church, they are invariably a bit late on the stands and completely out of sync on the kneels.  Kind of like watching people learning the electric slide for the first time, not exactly smooth... ain't got no rhythm! 

Many Episcopalians secretly think Baptists are "all wet"! Baptists think Episcopalians consider The Ten Commandments to just be "The Ten Suggestions"! 

Patrick Henry

Suspicion between Baptists and Episcopalians goes way back.  As the official church of the British crown, a royal tax to increase the salary of Episcopal priests was one of the first things that made revolutionary Virginians, particularly Patrick Henry, mad...

Ecumenical Week: Kissin' Cousins...

People visiting North Carolina are always astounded by the size of our churches. We aren't called the "Bible Belt" for nothing!  

What perplexes visitors most is why such "grand size", when the sanctuaries are only half full on Sunday mornings?  The answer is easy. Want to hear it?  It's because of "tradition".

In the South when folks get married (and yes we still do that "down heah"), by tradition relatives of the bride sit on one side of the church and relatives of the groom sit on the opposite side of the aisle.  With me so far?

So, what does that have to do with oversized churches?

Well, the problem arises from the fact that most Southerners still like to marry their cousins.  So, at the beginning of a wedding ceremony, the ushers ask each guest:  "Are you related to the bride?" or "Are you related to the groom?" This ends up creating a tremendous problem. Since we're all related to each other, everyone immediately answers "yes" to that first question and we all end up sitting on the same side of the church.  This problem, of course, requires an extra, extra large church! Comprendez...?

Whose Interests Does Secrecy Serve?

In September, 2014 the robust senior leadership at the NCUA issued a "serious-minded profundum[see here]" on the critical importance of Stress Testing and Capital Planning at credit unions with assets greater than $10 billion. 


Those large credit unions, according to the current NCUA Chair, do, after all, pose "large risks" to the share insurance fund (NCUSIF), to the stability of the national economy, and perhaps even to the future of our American Democracy as we now know it.  

Unless someone is "telling a larry" this is really, really important stuff - or else why would anyone waste all the time and multiple millions of dollars that has been spent? This is a critical, crucially important analysis for the American people - right? Not just some mindless, bureaucratic exercise - right? The results of those stress tests were, according to the senior NCUA leadership, to be completed by May 28, 2015. 

So, since these stress test exercises were so important to the safety of the NCUSIF, to all credit unions, and to 100 million+ American credit union member-owners [and maybe even to global warming!]:

  WHAT WERE THE RESULTS OF THOSE STRESS TESTS?  

ARE WE SAFE AS A NATION OR NOT???

America's  large banks are required to publish the results of their stress tests because investors and the American citizen-taxpayers, who underwrite the financial deposit insurance system, have the right to know. Why aren't these "risky" credit unions required to also publish results? 

Here's how the NCUA Board decided that 100 million+ American credit union member-owners 

[that means you!] 

did not have the right to know ...

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