Adams Appears on Senator's Show About DFCU Financial Conversion

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – Despite a lawsuit from the $1.8 billion DFCU Financial FCU which is aimed at keeping the Michigan Credit Union League quiet on the topic of its proposed conversion to a mutual bank, David Adams, CEO of the league, has taken the league’s concerns about the coming balloting for the conversion vote to television. Adams appeared on the Senate Report, a monthly 30-minute program broadcast by State Senator Alan Basham. Basham represents the Senate district which includes DFCU’s headquarters and many of its members. Roughly 175,000 households in the area can see the program, which is carried on cable channels, according to the Senator’s office. Basham, in addition to representing DFCU’s district in the state senate, is a longtime DFCU member who is concerned about the pending conversion. “If you belong to DFCU, you might want to pay attention to this,” Basham said in the interview. Basham interviewed Adams about the disclosure process, who benefits from such conversions, member involvement and what will happen next in the conversion balloting process, according to a press release from the league about the program. “I never thought – ever – that I’d see the days that my credit union would want to become a bank,” Basham said. “It doesn’t sound like they are struggling to survive. And all of the sudden, it sounds like a few insiders want to expand their profit margins.” Adams said it is “appropriate” that credit unions are allowed to convert to bank charters if they need to do so, but that such decisions require a lot of homework and careful considerations. “The real key here is that the members need to do their homework and really make a well-informed decision on such an important matter. Right now with our economy as it is, with a lot of people being displaced from their jobs and a lot of people struggling, it is the absolute worst time for us to lose a credit union,” Adams said. “This credit union could be using its excess capital to help those displaced workers with special programs and special loans,” he added. Basham, a Ford Motor Co. retiree, describes himself as a loyal member of DFCU Financial. His office said the professionally-produced show covers a mix of legislative and community topics, everything from taxation issues to attracting new employers to the area. The league has also placed a link to the program on its memberinform.org, a Web site it created to inform consumers about credit union-to-bank conversions. [email protected]