The NCUA-conserved Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union is opting for a full discussion of its condition--as well as the corporate/CU scene---as it continues with a packed schedule of town hall meetings.
In an online posting this month, the $7.4 billion corporate with CU members stretching from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic also revealed it has cut staff by nearly 50%, slashed operating expenses by 40% and "closed several facilities" which were not identified.
MU noted that effective Nov. 1 it formally became Members United Bridge Corporate FCU as it operates under a new business model in offering its myriad menu of corporate services to its national roster comprising 20% of all U.S. CUs.
A review of MU's current state, its Sept. 24 seizure by NCUA and that of four other conserved entities along with "the challenged financial position" of many other corporates is contained in a 24-page paper titled "Forward Together." The discussion draft, as it is called, is accompanied by an Oct. 25 letter signed by Charles W. Furbee, who was picked by the NCUA to be acting CEO of the corporate and is a retired Federal Reserve Bank president.
An executive summary in the white paper cites the "well documented" problems of the corporates and of MU but stresses new processes have been implemented and now "we will need to rebuild your trust so that you feel comfortable chartering and capitalizing a new corporate" to accept MU's products and services as the corporate strives "to regain your trust each day through transparency" and good service.
Issuance of the white paper comes as MU listed 16 town hall meetings stretching from late last month to the first week in December
and in eight states. The series of meetings began Oct. 27 in Bloomington, Minn., and will wind up Dec. 9 in South Bend, Ind.
