Van Cortlandt Cooperative Federal Credit Union’s merger into USAlliance FCU was called off following approval from the National Credit Union Administration.
Credit Union Journal initially reported that the merger was moving forward.
NCUA approved the deal during the first quarter but it was called off before being put to a member vote. A former NCUA board member told Credit Union Journal Thursday some institutions do pursue regulatory approval before announcing a merger, but typically credit unions announce their intent to merge before regulators have signed off on the deal.
Bronx-based Van Cortlandt will face plenty of challenges as it moves ahead independently. The credit union was negatively hit by participation loans that financed taxi medallions. The $64 million-asset institution charged off nearly $6.5 million in commercial loan participations not secured by real estate since the beginning of 2018, according to call report data from NCUA.
The CU also reported a net loss of $91,630 for 2018 and a net loss of $69,709 during the first quarter of 2019, according to call report data.
In an interview with Credit Union Journal, Van Cortlandt CEO Mirela Alexe said a merger was not taking place.
A USAlliance representative said via email, “While we do not have any additional information about a merger with Van Cortlandt Federal Credit Union at this time, USAlliance is committed to the cooperative community as well as the New York credit union community and is always available to assist and support those institutions that ask for help or advice.”
USAlliance is no stranger to picking up small, struggling credit unions. The Rye, N.Y.-based CU added PepsiCo Employees Federal Credit Union in
A number of credit unions, including
This story was updated at 1:47 P.M. on May 30, 2019. The original brief, based on data from the National Credit Union Administration, reported that the two CUs had merged.
