Doug Thompson, CEO of the $82 million Aberdeen FCU, said the question of whether or not to recapitalize corporates mirrors a question facing the entire credit union movement: cooperate more or less?
"I believe this could mark the beginning of the end of our movement," said Thompson, who also serves as chairman on the Mid-America Credit Union Association board. "If we don't need each other to solve the corporate problem, we won't stick together for anything."
That being said, the South Dakota-based credit union hasn't yet decided if it's going to recapitalize Members United Corporate FCU. Aberdeen FCU has written off more than $600,000 in contributed capital, and Thompson said he and his board must first review Members United's business plan and NCUA final corporate regulations and legacy assets plan before making a final decision.
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The league leader said credit unions still adhere to cooperative principles, working together in associations and sharing best practices with each other, but the cooperative spirit isn't as strong as it once was.
"We're hearing credit unions say I don't need corporates, and I worry the next thing will be credit unions saying they don't need other credit unions, or associations, or any support at all.
That never used to be in conversations years ago, but you hear it a lot more now."
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