The board of directors of Georgia Corporate on Wednesday issued the final approval needed to give rise to Catalyst, the new corporate formed out of a merger of Georgia Corporate with Southwest Bridge.
Tuesday the members of Southwest Bridge voted in favor of the merger. Monday the NCUA gave its approval. The 875-member corporate plans to open as a newly merged entity next week.
“The Georgia Corporate Board has been committed to ensuring that member interests are at the forefront of every decision,” said Lin Hodges, chair of the Georgia Corporate board and president of Associated Credit Union in Atlanta.
“The strategy to consolidate with Southwest Bridge Corporate—a highly efficient and member-focused institution—in combination with tactics laid out in the Catalyst business plan, is the solution most capable of generating meaningful value to credit unions going forward,” Hodges said.
Hodges has been tabbed to serve as chairman of Catalyst Corporate.
“A good many credit unions want to continue to use the services of a corporate, but they have said loud and clear that they must reduce their exposure to risk,” Dianne Addington, president/CEO of Southwest Bridge Corporate, said in a statement. “Catalyst Corporate represents this low-risk value proposition by minimizing the amount of capital a credit union puts at risk, and by minimizing the risk we take with those assets.”
“Catalyst Corporate’s efficiency will ensure that we will thrive financially, meet all of the capital and retained earnings objectives, and still take less balance sheet risk than what is possible under the old corporate model,” Georgia Corporate CEO Greg Moore said in a statement. “And we will achieve this without eliminating services or raising prices.”
