The Impact of Credit Unions on the United States

For-Profit Investors Take Note: Non-Profit Credit Unions are Ready to Borrow To borrow from the great line purportedly uttered by late Sen. Everett Dirksen about spending in Washington – “a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money” – credit unions are taking huge advantage of their regulator’s relaxed position on the highly profitable not-for-profits by raising hundreds of millions of dollars a quarter from hedge funds and other for-profit investors in the form of subordinated debt.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Large Credit Unions Buying Banks is Nothing to Cheer The growing trend of credit unions buying banks is troubling in many ways. Perhaps the worst is that communities where large credit unions swoop in–especially in low- and middle-income areas–do not benefit from these transactions, despite egregious claims made by the head lobbyist for the largest credit unions in a factually tenuous op-ed in the American Banker.

Small Credit Unions Should Ask Tough Questions as Credit Unions Gather for Annual DC Conference Credit union executives will deploy to the Washington, D.C. Convention Center this week to lobby policymakers for additional industry expansion and bask in the success and growth of their industry – growth and success fueled virtually entirely by the largest credit unions, oftentimes at the expense of, or on the backs of, small credit unions.

American Taxpayers Take One for the Team Here’s how some large credit unions spend the money they save by not paying federal taxes: Super Bowl commercials to help them get even bigger. 

Large Credit Unions (and Their Logos) Are Here, There, Everywhere Large credit unions continue using their profits to snatch up naming rights for buildings and stadiums across the nation. Plenty of companies do the same thing, but unlike those businesses, credit unions were given a special tax-exempt status so they could use their earnings to better serve consumers of modest means, not to build their brand. When will regulators and lawmakers finally start to take notice of this troubling trend?