Executive Summary International - 7 May 2008

By Christian Mullins

Australia:

Later this month, fifteen individuals representing the credit union industry will travel to Cambodia to provide insight and help strengthen the CU movement in that nation. Australia’s credit unions have evolved from offering credit to those who can get it at mainstream banks to offering a real alternative, and they believe that Cambodia can develop a similar system.

Canada:

While skimming scams in North America are relatively rare, an undetermined number of Winnipeg residents have fallen victim to exactly that. The scam, which involves installing a credit/debit card ‘reader’ that harvests your card’s information while conducting a transaction, has affected at least two financial institutions. Winnipeg police are investigating the matter, and cards suspected of fraud are being canceled. The skimmer’s location has not yet been determined.

British Columbia’s credit unions had a positive overall performance in 2007. B.C.’s 48 credit unions earned $261 million before taxes and dividends, assets jumped 9.5%, and while mortgage loans compromised 68% of their combined lending portfolio, loan delinquency rates (90 past due or longer) remained a low 0.21% of total loan value.

India:

A group of executives representing rural credit cooperatives recently visited Las Vegas to learn more about America’s Credit Unions and how they operate. Executives in India want to reform the credit union system, specifically by separating the credit unions from the government entities that run them. The largest credit union movement in the world (in terms of total members and institutions) wants a system more like that of the U.S.: regulated, but not run, by government.

Ireland:

CUNA Mutual, based in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, opened a new European headquarters in Dublin on May 1, and announced it was expanding their operations on the continent. In addition to the Dublin office, CUNA has international operations in Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Latin America.

United Kingdom:

The credit crunch has continued to have a devastating effect on Britain’s homeowners. Last year, 95,374 repossession orders were issued, the highest since the housing crash of the early 1990s. With a general economic downturn combined with 1.4 million homes facing renegotiated rates, 2008 looks to be even worse. The Bank of England estimates that the average rate on a renegotiated loan will jump 2.5%.

Executive Summary - 7 May 2008

By Christian Mullins

Executive Summary:

Proving that nothing is off limits when it comes to fraud, a scam from individuals claiming to be from the IRS has surfaced in Western Massachusetts. The scam is in email form, asking the individual to complete a form to ensure the proper deposit of economic stimulus checks. Both the Internal Revenue Service and Greylock FCU have posted scam warnings to their websites.  It is currently unknown how many individuals have been victimized by the attempts.

Real estate website zillow.com released startling statistics for the state of the nation’s home owners. According to their research, 51.6% of homes in the United States purchased in 2006, when prices peaked, are ‘underwater’, or worth less than its mortgage balance. It isn’t much better for homes purchased in 2005 or 2007, with 42% and 45% of homes underwater, respectively. Two of the hardest hit cities are Las Vegas, Nevada, and Stockton, California.

Robbed:

• Nothing to report today.

Arrested, Arraigned, Charged, or Sentenced:

• A man responsible for the robbery of People’s Community CU in Vancouver, Washington April 28th and again on Monday has turned himself in to police. Lucas Smith, 26 is believed to have acted alone in both robberies.