Issues surrounding credit union mergers, including misled members of merging credit unions and the NCUA's proposed merger rules, got readers talking this past week. Find out what they had to say about that and other credit union news here.

"The Dark Side of Credit Union Mergers," March 22

I fully agree with the concerns expressed and have seen examples of mergers that weren't necessary. However, all of the mergers I have been involved with, about a dozen, were necessary in order to protect the assets of the merging credit union and to keep the merging members in a solid credit union when the result could have been driving the members to a bank or out of the primary financial institution arena. Of concern is one merger I'm currently working on where the significantly smaller credit union lost its manager due to death and the only other full-time employee was moving out of state. The NCUA wouldn't allow an "emergency merger" because its new worth was acceptable. The continuing credit union had to create a Service Agreement to run the credit union pending the NCUA's approval, which has taken months and continued to be delayed due to the NCUA's concern about these issues. There should be a way for needed mergers to be put on a "fast track" in an effort to minimize unnecessary work and expense!