Prior to joining Mission Federal, Schwartz served in senior executive positions as chief financial officer at First Future Credit Union and as executive vice president at San Diego County Credit Union. She also held previous operational and finance leadership positions at other area financial institutions.

In addition, Schwartz earned an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in economics and marketing from the State University of New York.

–[email protected]

NCUA Closes Tenth Federally Insured Credit Union in 2008

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The NCUA placed Interfaith Federal Credit Union in East Orange, N.J. into liquidation, last week, making that the tenth federally insured credit union closure in 2008.

The credit union had 370 members and assets of approximately $388,000. It was chartered in 1982 to serve members of the New Hope Baptist Church.

The NCUA made the decision to liquidate after determining that the credit union is insolvent and had no prospects of restoring viable operations. Checks will be issued to individuals holding verified share accounts at the credit union within one week.

Bigby Named to NASCUS Council

WASHINGTON — Norbel Federal Credit Union President/CEO Ed Bigby has been named a director of NASCUS' Credit Union Executive Council.

Bigby, who has been involved with credit unions since the 1970s, is a member of several NASCUS committees and is the group's state liaison for Colorado. He has been on the boards of the Credit Union Executives Society and the Colorado Credit Union League.

He was appointed by Council Chairman Mendell Thompson to fill the unexpired term of Rick Schmidtke, the president/CEO of Harborstone Credit Union in Washington, who is retiring. Bigby's term runs until September 2009.

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Judge Approves Remedy in FOM Case

WASHINGTON — Bringing an end to a field of membership case that exemplified the animosity between credit unions and banks, a federal district judge last week entered a remedy in favor of the banks.

U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane said three Harrisburg, Pa.-area credit unions could keep their current members but not recruit new ones in their wrongfully approved expanded FOMs. The arrangement had previously been agreed to by the NCUA and the American Bankers Association, which brought suit with others against the NCUA.

In July, Kane ruled that the NCUA had acted in an "arbitrary and capricious manner" and ignored contrary evidence when deciding to grant Members 1st Federal Credit Union a six-county community charter. The agency had granted Americhoice Federal Credit Union and New Cumberland Federal Credit Union the same FOM. Kane also ordered the case closed and the originally granted community charters vacated.

The remedy was proposed by the ABA in a court filing last month, which the NCUA agreed to in a separate filing. The two sides had agreed to a provision allowing household and family members to join a credit union based on their relationship with a member at the time of the original NCUA decision.

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