London, New York and Hong Kong remained at the top of the league, although London only narrowly clung to the premier spot, with “no significant difference” now between the three, the report’s authors said.

Researchers for the Global Financial Centres Index said that the capital cities of the weaker euro economies were “clearly suffering”, with Madrid down 11 places and Dublin down ten, while economies in the far East and the Nordic countries grew in stature.

Edinburgh has slipped dramatically from the initial GFCI report in March 2007 when it was ranked 15th in the world. Although its most recent rating of 632 was higher than its previous score of 600, Edinburgh was edged out of the top 30 by the increasing strengths of Osaka, Stockholm and Wellington.

Glasgow made its first appearance on the rankings in March 2008 at 22. Owen Kelly, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, said: “The large jump a few years ago in the ratings for Asian centres like Shenzhen and Shanghai is now entrenched, reflecting the shift eastwards of prosperity and influence.

“For Scotland, the scores have remained steady since the index was created although, like all European financial centres, we face increasing competition in the rankings from Asia and other emerging markets. “The welcome rise for Glasgow probably reflects recent major investments by companies like Barclays and Tesco Bank.”

Kimberly High School

Heart of the Valley winners are: Ben Vanden Boogaard, Little Chute High School graduate, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Alexandra Van Cuyk, Kaukauna High School graduate, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Courtney Gonnering, Freedom High School graduate, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Andrew Schultz, Kimberly High School graduate, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Other recipients were Marisa Thome, a graduate of Appleton North High School; Benjamin Lamers, a graduate of Appleton East High School; and Nicholas Anderson, a graduate of Hortonville High School.

The scholarship program is open to graduating high school seniors who are Capital members living in Outagamie, Calumet, Winnebago or Brown counties planning to attend an accredited post-secondary institution.

Postcrescent.com

People’s Credit Union Proven Today; Primed for Tomorrow

“This elite distinction is an honor, we will continue to work hard to stay at BauerFinancial’s highest level of strength and performance. We are proud to be a local financial institution that our members can trust,” commented Ellen Ford, People’s President & CEO.

That’s a combination that has been hard to come by the past couple of years. Yet, People’s Credit Union has managed to do it. With that, BauerFinancial bestows its highest 5-Star Superior rating on People’s Credit Union denoting the highest level of strength and performance that a credit union can receive. In fact, People’s Credit Union has earned this 5-Star Superior rating for the last 79 consecutive quarters putting it in an even more elite group of “sustained superiority institutions.” Only 7% of the nation’s credit unions can claim this distinction.

“Not only has People’s Credit Union proven its efficacy yesterday and today, it is also primed for whatever tomorrow may bring,” observes Karen L. Dorway, president of BauerFinancial. “The past three years have put a considerable amount of pressure on our nation’s financial system and we are pleased to see credit unions, like People’s Credit Union, still able to shine.”

People’s Credit Union serves members through six locations in Bristol, Middletown, Newport, North Kingstown, Portsmouth and Wakefield. People’s, a member-owned, state chartered, federally insured, community credit union established in 1922. Membership is open to all individuals. Deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the federal government.

BauerFinancial, Coral Gables, Florida, the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating and research firm has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions since 1983. No institution pays BauerFinancial to rate it, nor can any choose to be excluded. Consumers may obtain star-ratings by visiting www.bauerfinancial.com.

Cuinsight.com

Wright Patt Credit Union

Mr. Bugger will join the Wright-Patt Credit Union team on September 19th. Tim Mislansky, Executive Vice President and CLO of Wright-Patt Credit Union explains, “Eric has great skills to help make Wright-Patt the lender of choice in the Miami Valley.

I think everyone knows Wright-Patt is here to help our members save more of their hard-earned money and one way of doing that is by borrowing smarter. So, we want more people to realize that when it comes to understanding the current economic conditions we are here for them and the best alternative for borrowing. We understand what people are going through and Eric will use his ‘out of the box’ thinking to bring much needed solutions to our members.”

Mr. Bugger studied Journalism and Political Science at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and has a Masters of Art in Management from Webster University. Eric has been involved in the O’Fallon Sunrise Rotary, the O’Fallon Knights of Columbus, and the Southern Illinois Chapter of Credit Unions and is an American Collectors Association Scholar. He now lives in Beavercreek with his wife and two daughters

Established in 1932, Wright-Patt Credit Union is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative proudly serving the Miami Valley with over 210,000 members and $2 billion in assets. As a cooperative, Wright-Patt Credit Union joins members together, pooling financial resources to meet the needs of all.

The pooled resources provide the capital to run a strong and efficient operation. Wright-Patt Credit Union is headquartered in Fairborn, Ohio, and has 24 Member Centers throughout Southwest Ohio. Wright-Patt Credit Union’s mission is to help people through life by allowing members to achieve a greater degree of economic independence. Visit Wright-Patt Credit Union’s website at www.wpcu.coop for more information.

Central 1 Credit Union chief economist Helmut Pastrick.

It is expected that the call will formally be made on or before October 31, 2011, and will raise proceeds of approximately $100 million. These proceeds will qualify as Tier 1 regulatory capital and will be used by Central 1 for general corporate purposes.

Over the past several months, financial markets have been especially volatile, particularly given the issues facing the European Union and the impact that those issues are having on North American markets. The volatility has created some mark-to-market losses on Central 1’s balance sheet, which is primarily composed of financial instruments, consisting largely of Government of Canada bonds and guarantees, provincial government debt and senior Canadian bank debt.

While Central 1’s capital position is already strong and well within regulatory limits, the board of directors has determined that it is appropriate to increase Central 1’s internal capital targets as a prudent measure, based on this volatility and the likelihood it will continue for the foreseeable future. The capital call is intended to ensure Central 1 is able to meet revised internal capital targets and maintain a strong capital position.

Central 1 has 45 Class A members in B.C. and 116 Class A members in Ontario. At year-end 2010, their combined assets amounted to $72.6 billion.

Central 1 is the central financial facility and trade association for the B.C. and Ontario credit union systems, providing liquidity management, payments, Internet banking and trade association services to member credit unions, and banking and transaction services to customers in the corporate and public sectors. For more information, visit www.central1.com.

Stockmarketsreview.com

Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union

The number and the sums involved is not yet fully known but sources close to the cabinet told the Sunday Independent “a figure on the lines of half-a-billion would not be totally out of the ballpark”.

Each credit union is an independent organisation, and while a growing number are loss-making, most are financially secure. A stress test of all credit unions carried out by Grant Thornton has yet to be published. In the immediate wake of coming into office, the Government established a commission into the state of the credit union movement.

The commission is expected to publish its report within the next month and a decision will then be made about the total level of recapitalisation that is required.

The Sunday Independent has, however, learnt that whilst some ministers believe the final bill could be as high as half-a-billion euro, a split is emerging between those who want to “throw money at the issue” and others who believe recapitalisation costs should be kept “to a minimum”.

One senior source said the Department of Finance would be pushing to ensure that any decisions taken would be ones which will “represent the least costly option for the State”.

Unlike the banks, credit unions, for the most part, were not involved in property speculation. But they have been hit by rising unemployment among their client base and by unwise investment advice from big lending institutions.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, government sources said the central objective of any recapitalisation would be to “avoid the nightmare of a run on deposits”.

A Department of Finance spokesperson responded to concerns on this issue by noting that deposits in credit unions “are covered up to €100,000″ and noted that in spite of the even worse condition of the banks “no one has lost any cash in Irish banks”.

A matter of even greater concern is the likelihood that any recapitalisation would be followed by mass closures and amalgamations of branches.

Last week, the belief was rife amongst government TDs that up to 200 credit unions would have to close.

Government sources said the amount of closures is now “likely to be substantially lower” but in a signal of trouble to come, the astute FG Senator Tom Sheahan, who has been vocal in his criticism of the banking regulator Matthew Elderfield’s attitude to credit unions, warned that “credit unions play a central role in our communities, TDs will not accept that viable branches will be closed to suit some bankers slide rule”.

However, recent legislation on credit stabilisation also gives the Regulator the power to close down or amalgamate troubled credit unions as “he sees fit”. Lending restrictions have already been imposed on 300 credit unions.

Independent.ie