Posts Tagged credit union
Federation Points to Signs Community Investing is Here to Stay
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Апрель 28th, 2011
The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions has joined with two other community development institutions to hail some recent trends in the field.
The National Federation, Social Investment Forum and Green America cited rising participation from consumers, heightened interest among investment firms and growing awareness of community investing successes as reasons community investment is expanding.
The institutions defined community investing as “capital from investors and lenders that is directed, typically via community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other community investing institutions, to communities and individuals that are underserved by traditional financial services.” And it reported that assets in community investing institutions grew 60% from $25 billion in 2007 to $41.7 billion as of the start of 2010, the most recent date for which data had been reported.
National Federation CEO Cliff Rosenthal argued that the increased attention was arriving at a crucial time as CDCUs have needed to make more of the work better known. Read the rest of this entry »
Vensure FCU: Poker Patsy or Plotter?
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Апрель 27th, 2011
Small Arizona CU Linked to Government Bust of Major Internet Gambling Operations. The closing of a small, single-sponsor federal credit union in Arizona has raised serious questions about some of the ways NCUA supervised or failed to supervise a federally chartered CU.
When it was first announced, the decision to close the $2.7 million Vensure Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Mesa, Ariz., did not appear justified. While there was no data available from the March Call Report, the agency’s announcement set the CU’s assets at $4.7 million and membership at 144, but the agency’s data site reported its assets as of Dec. 31, 2010 to be $2.7 million and 94 members.
But while small, there was nothing on the first glance that might suggest that the CU needed to be closed. The agency data also reported that the credit union had a net worth ratio of 33.52% as of Dec. 31, 2010 and had net income of almost $592,000 for the year.
But it also came to light fairly quickly that Vensure might have been either the dupe or a participant in what federal prosecutors have described as an extensive and sophisticated fraud and money laundering scheme around Internet gambling payments. Read the rest of this entry »
The new rules of car buying
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Budget on Май 8th, 2009
You’ve seen the headlines: automakers on the brink, sales slowing to a crawl, credit tighter than ever. Yet amid all of this gloom there’s a silver lining: deals of a lifetime. But to snag one, you have to learn how to navigate today’s uncharted market.
Rule No. 1: You can find a deal anywhere, and we mean anywhere
You can hardly escape the grim news surrounding the car industry: an 11th-hour federal loan package to help General Motors and Chrysler survive to the new year, frugal consumers shying away from big-ticket purchases — especially four-wheeled ones — and tighter credit making it tougher for the few willing buyers to borrow. November auto sales plunged 37% from a year earlier, according to Autodata, a sales tracking firm. Even after production cutbacks, ports are stacked high with new cars that can’t fit on dealer lots.
Where there’s an inventory glut, there’s a fire sale, and that’s great news for you. Desperate car makers are begging you to buy with extraordinary deals, from 0% loans to more than $7,000 cash back. «The level of incentives is unprecedented,» says Jack Nerad, a market analyst at car-price publisher Kelley Blue Book. «It is almost mind boggling.»
Rebates and low-interest loans are nothing new, of course. What’s different today is how large they are — and how widespread. Last summer, with gas at $4 a gallon, the incentives were limited mainly to gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks. Now you’ll find deals on small cars too. Read the rest of this entry »
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