Payout Amount in Wings' Takeover Attempt Is Suspect

The Wings Financial FCU takeover attempt of Continental FCU has a number of questions that need to be answered. For example, in the proposed Wings payout to Continental members, does every Continental member get $200, even the ones who, for all intents and purpose are nearly dormant accounts? The yearend 5300 indicates that something akin to $9 million should be the payout to bring the capital positions into parity between memberships. Otherwise we have another “confiscation of earnings” on our hands just like the bank conversions we are constantly carping about. In addition to that, the unrecognized gain on offices and property should be factored in (by appraisal) to make it more even for the Continental members. After all they are the ones who have been paying for them while their value has increased. Shouldn’t Wings open their books to Continental reps so that they can ensure they are not handing their membership over to a bunch of opportunists who are willing to pay $200 for every vote no matter who? Just a ton of questions need to be answered about this hostile takeover attempt before anything happens. As an example, the fee dollars per member seem to show a distinct advantage for Continental over Wings. That must be explained or Continental members will get a rude awakening that they are not even thinking about. A cash penalty for a failed attempt should be considered by NCUA to blunt these attempts that bring discredit to the credit union spirit of co-operation and to realistically reimburse the targeted credit union for efforts to head off such hostile takeover attempts. Dennis G. Moriarity CEO UNITY Credit Union Warren, Mich.