MONTEREY, Calif. — The California/Nevada Credit Union Leagues have now joined the industry chorus lambasting the hostile takeover bid of Minneapolis-based Wings Financial Federal Credit Union to merge with Continental Federal Credit Union of El Segundo.
"We do not believe an out-of-state-based credit union should be telling members what is in their best interests, what's a good value and what is not, " declared William Cheney, the president/CEO of the leagues addressing last week's Big Valley Educational Conference here.
Wings' unsolicited offer, he told conferees, "is not in the best interests of the credit union or the credit union community" and he accused Wings management of being out-of-line by telling Continental "what is of value" in their CU.
Recommended For You
The two leagues, he said, strongly support Tom Glatt, the Continental president/CEO who acted swiftly after "the bombshell dropped" to urge rejection of the offer, which was unanimously turned down by the Continental board.
Many in the audience already know Glatt, said Cheney, "as a great friend of credit unions" in his previous role as the long-time head of Counter Intelligence Associates, a San Juan Capistrano, Calif. consulting firm which he left in November 2004. After a stint as executive vice president/COO at Portland Teachers CU in Oregon, he joined Continental last August.
And one of his first tasks was to bring Continental into league membership, noted Cheney.
He said the league remains "in close contact with Glatt" whose CU has a TIP-based structure, similar to Wings, which is not affiliated with CUNA or the Minnesota Credit Union League.
Also voicing support for Glatt from the California league board was chairman Debra Grisamer, who said the hostile offer is indeed an unsettling and disturbing industry development "but I know Tom Glatt and he'll be able to figure it out" to a successful conclusion. Grisamer is also president/CEO of the newly renamed Alta Vista CU of San Bernardino, formerly Norton Community CU.
On another topic in his Big Valley speech, Cheney called on California CU executives to ratchet up lobbying campaigns for CURIA now introduced into the Congress for the third time maintaining that while the sponsors are still there, CUs need to prove their case that member support remains vital.
The worry, he said, is that lawmakers "will lose patience" with the industry's inability to win widespread grassroots support.
Though some small CUs say they find little of interest to them on business lending, in the long run the risk based capital portions remain vitally important, said Cheney. –[email protected]
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
