The $2.7 billion DFCU Financial CU of Dearborn, Mich., announced it has filed an application with regulators to merge the $181 million MidWest Financial FCU of Ann Arbor, expanding its field of membership in southeast Michigan with five branches in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
DFCU said it hopes to complete the membership and regulatory approval process by Oct. 1 and final computer conversion by next March.
MidWest, with a 7.7% capital ratio, had recorded a $1.5 million loss in 2009 on top of a $1.1 million loss in 2008. It narrowed its losses in the first quarter to $19,243.
DFCU's merger proposal was filed with the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation, which declined to comment.
DFCU, the state's largest credit union with 25 branches and 218,000 members, said in a statement that the merger would extend its "strong financial position and special patronage dividend to a wider population of members in Michigan at a time when it is most needed."
That $70 million dividend "has been issued for four consecutive years and is the largest in the history of credit unions," DFCU said.
