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What is the situation between Credit Unions and Commercial Banks?

In my Principles of Banking and Finance class , my professor wants us to write about the situation and issues going on. I have googled and used yahoo search but cannot find anything that seems relevant. Any ideas on what he is talking about? It is an online class so I can tell you that his question is stated exactly like this: "In this country we have situation between Credit Unions and commercial banks. What is going on? What are the issues? You may have to do a little Web research to answer this question." Please let me know of any ideas you may have. Thank You.

Public Comments

1. Your professor probably means there is conflict between credit unions (who want to expand into "member business loans") and commercial banks (who don't want credit unions compete with them for clients). There has always been an ongoing conflict between banks and credit unions. (Actually, the conflict is between the trade associations for each group, but that's a whole other story.) Finding information on the internet may be kinda difficult unless you can access some news stories. There are some trade publications you can review: American Banker, Credit Union Times and Credit Union Journal. They all have websites, but you must be a subscriber to access most stories. Perhaps your school's library has a subscription which will allow you access to the material. The trade associations only allow their members to access the online information on these type of issues, so those sites may have limited value. Try looking for American Bankers Association and Credit Union National Association. Maybe there is a recent newsletter article on the topic that is available to the public. Try searching "member business loans" or CURIA (a piece of federal legislation being promoted by credit unions). I'm not sure if this will help, but for what it's worth, here is a link to the history of the credit union movement: http://www.creditunion.coop/what_is_a_cu.html There may also be some local issues in your state. Both of the trade associations have state-level affiliates which may have information on the local issues between credit unions and commercial banks. Hope this helps. Good luck!