The seeds for this year's shakeup-or convulsion-of the nation's corporate system may have been sown in 2007 and 2008 with the subprime debacle. But the NCUA's Sept. 24 "Black Friday" seizure of three corporates was the climax of an exceedingly tough year.

The fallout, which opened the doors to a diverse array of CU providers, including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Home Loan Banks and CO-OP Financial Services, triggered a series of corporate mergers and forced many assessment-weary CUs to suffer more income loss as they also began realigning their processing and funding strategies.

"There could still be more economic pain but we, as one corporate, are still standing tall even as I think the dark clouds now appear to be lifting," observed Brad Miller, president/CEO of the $2.7 billion Southeast Corporate FCU of Tallahassee and the former head of the Association of Corporate Credit Unions.