STAMFORD, Conn. – Fairfield County CU, chartered in 1934 as a federal credit union is once again a federal credit union. The $36 million state-chartered credit union received approval March 5 to convert back to a federal charter. The credit union converted from a federal to a state charter in November 2001. Fairfield County FCU is the second credit union in Connecticut to do a 360-degree charter conversion. In November 2003, Stamford CU converted back to a federal charter after operating as a state-charter for two years. The credit union originally opened for business in 1953 as Stamford Municipal Employees Credit Union. It converted to a federal charter for the first time in December 1984. Then in August 2001, it converted back to a state charter as Stamford Credit Union. As of Feb. 25, 2004, there were 179 credit unions in Connecticut that include 48 state-chartered, 124 federally chartered, and seven out-of-state CUs operating branches in the state. As of June 30, 2003, they had a total of $4,349.8 billion in assets and served a total 318,316 members.