U.S. Central Names Francis Lee CEO

DALLAS – Southwest Corporate FCU CEO Francis Lee has been named the new CEO of U.S. Central. Lee, who joined Southwest in 1995, is a household name in the corporate credit union network. He has helped grow Southwest Corporate into the second largest corporate, at $8 billion in assets, and one of the most sophisticated in the network. Former U.S. Central CEO Dan Kampen resigned last year. Southwest has named senior vice president of operations Jody Beck as interim CEO. It has formed a four-person committee to conduct a CEO search. “When I took the CEO job at Southwest Corporate, the membership welcomed me with open arms and I must say that the experience has been very rewarding,” Lee said. “Even though I am leaving Southwest Corporate, I have the continued privilege of being a part of this great credit union movement and hope to add value to the membership of U.S. Central. I am looking forward to working with the staff at U.S. Central as we continue their good work to serve the corporate credit unions with wholesale services,” Lee said. Lee has been a member of the Association of Corporate Credit Unions’ Executive Committee for many years. “He is a giant in his field, having many years of experience with wholesale financial institutions that serve credit unions,” said ACCU Executive Director Mike Canning. “He has exhibited principled leadership during watershed events. I believe he has the full respect of his peers,” said Canning. Lee joins an organization that some see as being in a transition stage. It has moved away from offering a number of technology products to natural person credit unions via its technology CUSO. Last year it sold off the bulk of that business. It was a business many corporates didn’t think it should be in. It has become closer to natural person credit unions through its Charlie Mac LLC subsidiary. Charlie Mac acts as a secondary market for credit union auto and jumbo mortgages. U.S. Central does work through corporates to provide the service to CUs. [email protected]