Sunshine State Staying in League - For Now

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Sunshine State, the $170 million credit union which went through the entire process to change its charter to that of a mutual bank only to withdraw its application in the wake of the departure of its CEO, is electing to remain in the Florida Credit Union League, at least for now, according to League staff. Guy Hood, CEO of the League said that the credit union hasn't yet paid its dues but that credit union staff has indicated that it planned to do so and, further, that it had never stopped paying them. The credit union participates in the Florida League's shared branching network as well as the Credit Union 24 ATM network. When the credit union withdrew its application for a federal thrift charter, its staff expressed confidence that the credit union's plans for charter change remained in place despite the setback. In 2004, when the credit union started the charter change process, it had been a League member then as well. Michelle Clark, a vice president with the credit union, said that CU staff had discussed the dues and had decided to keep up its participation in the league and to reexamine the issue after the credit union becomes a bank. "We might want to join a banking organization as well," Clark said. "But we still intend to become a bank."