HOUSTON – Despite Enron Corp.'s recent failed merger, underwater stock price and federal investigations on whether employees were blocked from selling the company's stock, financial services to members of Enron Federal Credit Union remain intact. Enron FCU (EFCU) is committed to a "business as usual" policy, said Jack McAdoo, president/CEO, after Enron Corp., a commodities company, primarily of energy, filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2 and laid off more than 4,000 Houston-based employees from its 21,000-employee base worldwide.
"Although the events surrounding the financial troubles of Enron Corp. have had a significant impact on our membership, the credit union remains financially strong and ready to assist its members," McAdoo said. That assistance will come in a variety of forms, he explained, from refinancing to extensions and deferments for loan payments. Regarding payroll checks from Enron, McAdoo said the company has received permission from the bankruptcy court to pay salaries and "the checks are good."
EFCU is a single-sponsor credit union with 12,000 members comprised of current and former employees and their family members. The credit union has $80 million in assets and "has always been and remains" financially and operationally independent from Enron Corp.
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Indeed, EFCU has taken an aggressive approach to assisting laid-off employees. The credit union is hosting a "Surviving a Layoff" workshop on Jan. 15, links to various job search engines are provided on its Web site, and there is an extensive section there devoted to accessing accounts, unemployment and emergency loans and loan payment options. EFCU also provides links to published reports with the most up-to-date information on Enron's investigations.
Meanwhile, Enron, which filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, according to several published reports, is under investigation in Washington by the SEC, the Departments of Justice and Labor and at least five congressional committees.
Among the probes, company employees say a 401(k) retirement plan that made many of them heavily dependent on company stock came under fire at a congressional hearing last month when employees said they were unable to sell their holdings when the stock price plunged.
"I'm particularly concerned with reports that top executives at Enron were selling their shares of company stock at very high profits while lower-level employees were forbidden from selling theirs," Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and ranking minority member of the permanent subcommittee testified.
Last month, Dynegy, Inc. backed out of a deal to purchase Enron after the company revealed that it was in dire financial straits. Once ranked No. 7 on the Fortune 500 list of top companies, Enron's stock was trading as low as 63 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange at press time compared to an Aug. 2000 high of $90.56, Reuters Newswire reported. [email protected]
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