Those year-old Federal Reserve get-togethers of CEOs from credit unions and banks are proving a valuable way to exchange common concerns on the economy, the payments system and lending performance, one participant said.

Vermont's John Dwyer took part March 15 in the 2012 version of the Community Depository Institution Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

“These sessions remain very helpful for my credit union in really understanding the similarities between banks and credit unions in any number of areas,” said Dwyer, president/CEO of the $870 million New England FCU of Williston.

Getting more specific, Dwyer said he learned that some of the New England regional banks have experienced the same delinquency, foreclosure and chargeoff problems as credit unions while the economy at the same starts to show some improvement.

The Boston Fed's 12-member CDIAC includes James Blake, president/CEO of the $1.9 billion HarborOne CU of Brockton, Mass.

The HarborOne board this week adopted a plan to move forward with a conversion to a mutual co-op bank perhaps later in 2012 following member and regulatory approval.

Dwyer, who like most New England CEOs have voiced strong support for the credit union charter, said he would have no comment on the HarborOne plan.

And the other credit union CEO, Michael L'Ecuyer, of the $353 million Bellwether Community CU of Manchester, N.H., did not return phone calls.

The March 15 session of the 12-member CDIAC included questioning of the participants by the president of the Boston Fed, Eric Rosengren, and the responses were informative, said Dwyer.

As the practice elsewhere in the Fed system, the proceedings of the CDIAC panels are kept secret. Their makeup is dominated by regional bank CEOs with two credit unions to a CDIAC. The Boston Fed was an exception with three credit union CEOs.

With the exception of some isolated bank/CU flare-ups, the polite CDIAC sessions at the 12 district banks have provided helpful information to the parties, credit union participants said. Dwyer said he was unfamiliar with CDIAC discussions outside of Boston but that the parties at the March 15 meeting were respectful and cordial.

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Fed CDIAC Panels Worthwhile, Says Vermont CEO

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