SAN FRANCISCO — Leading credit union economists met with officials of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank here including Fed Bank President Janet Yellen to discuss areas of importance to CUs and current economic concerns. The major topics of conversation were the housing market, CU loan quality and the outlook for credit unions overall.

The Credit Union Economics Group members present were Dr. Tun Wai, chief economist for NAFCU, Dave Colby, chief economist for CUNA Mutual Group, Bruce Beaudette, president of Sunmark FCU, Dwight Johnston, Western Corporate FCU vive president of economic and market research and Dave Dickens, executive VP of asset/liability management, U.S. Central. The meeting took place on Monday, April 14.

The CUEG members stressed that CUs were not the cause of current market turmoil and are, as they have always been, ready to serve members with products and services that meet their needs and fit their circumstances. CUs are nevertheless feeling their strains of the credit crunch, they said.