"2001 National CUSO Directory" provides new rankings, tools for CUs to form CUSOs

WASHINGTON – At first glance, the “2001 National CUSO Directory: Expanding Credit Unions’ Powers to Serve” looks pretty much like previous years’ editions. But look inside and the differences become quickly apparent. Unlike in past years’ directories which grouped wholly-owned and multiple-owned CUSOs together, this year’s edition breaks the listing out into the two categories. Similary, the tables included in earlier directories were for all CUSOs and featured the top 50 CUSOs and top 100 credit unions in investments in/loans to CUSOs. The 2001 edition features three tables: top 50 by largest credit union investments in CUSOs; top 50 by largest credit union loans to CUSOs; and top 50 by largest CUSO net income. More important, all the charts are shown for wholly-owned CUSOs only. Katherine Hassinger, director of research and production for Callahan & Associations explained that all the CUSOs – wholly- and muliple-owned alike – were sent similar verification reports concerning their information. “Some multiple-owned CUSOs said their financial data wasn’t open to the public, so we decided we couldn’t publish a comprehensive listing of the multiple-owned CUSOs without complete data.” Hassinger pointed out that the 2001 directory includes the names of about 100 more CUSOs than were listed in earlier editions. “We cleaned out some that either went out of business or had stopped offering services. As for the CUSOs we added, there was no record of them previously.” For the first time, the 2001 National CUSO Directory includes an article written by NACUSO General Counsel Guy Messick, “CUSO Formation Action Steps.” The article features a list of steps credit unions can refer to when they form a CUSO. Among Messick’s suggestions: identify a need for a financial or operational service that may only be, or may best be run, through a CUSO; identify your CU’s goals that will be furthered by the CUSO and the CUSO goals that will complement your CU’s goals. Copies of the 2001 National CUSO Directory are available by going on Callahan’s Web site – www.creditunion.com – or calling their office, (800) 446-7453. – [email protected]