Credit Union Exam Solutions Presents With Flying Colors

FC Classic:  So You Are A CAMELS 3 - Now What?

In this episode of With Flying Colors, Mark Treichel walks through NCUA’s May 6 conservatorship of Jackson Area Federal Credit Union of Jackson, Mississippi. Drawing on 33 years at NCUA — including responsibility for some of the agency’s largest historical conservatorships — Mark analyzes the publicly available call report data and explains why this case is unusual.The credit union reported 9.2% net worth at year-end 2025, alongside loan-to-assets of 27.8%, $108 million in cash on deposit at correspondent banks, and $41.8 million in non-member deposits. Mark works through why these patterns, taken together, are statistically extreme — Jackson Area is the only large credit union in the country with non-member deposits over 25% and loan-to-assets under 30%.The episode also covers a roughly $2.13 million Q4 net worth entry that lifted capital back above the well-capitalized threshold against just $42,000 in reported quarterly income, the timing of NCUA’s filing of an estimated March 31 call report the day before the conservatorship, and what the language in the press release may signal.Mark closes with five lessons for credit union boards: healthy ratios are not safety; the income statement can tell the truth the balance sheet hides; non-member deposits without lending growth deserve scrutiny; equity entries without income demand explanation; and NCUA examinations are not fraud audits.This is a solo episode — Mark’s analysis is based entirely on public data, with no insider information.

WFC Classic ALCO Part 2  & In Practice: Essential Reports Analysis and Risk Management

www.marktreichel.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-treichel/In this episode of With Flying Colors, Mark Treichel sits down with Travis Goodman, CFA, Principal at ALM First Financial Advisors, and Mark Sun, Portfolio Manager at ALM First, to discuss the recent launch of the ALM First Loan Fund — the first non-registered investment fund approved by the National Credit Union Administration Board for federal credit unions, and the first trade just executed under it.The conversation covers:•        How the loan fund structure differs from a traditional loan participation, and why standardization matters at scale.•        The institutional discipline built into the structure: third-party loss estimates, third-party agreed-upon procedures, and third-party cash agent functions.•        Eligibility and guardrails: the 30-credit-union lifetime cap, the complex-credit-union requirement, the 50% and 15% net worth limits, and how state-chartered credit unions with federal parity can participate.•        The pilot timeline: seven years from approval, or five years from the first trade — whichever comes first — and what it means for the path to permanence.•        The role of credit union deposits as a unique, counter-cyclical source of funding in the institutional capital markets.•        Asset eligibility, including the under-10-year maturity rule and the focus on consumer loan products.•        How smaller credit unions might eventually benefit from the structure even if they are not eligible for the current pilot.For credit unions interested in learning more about the ALM First Loan Fund, contact: [email protected]

WFC Classic governance issue and ALCO In Practice: Essential Reports, Analysis & Risk Management

www.marktreichel.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-treichel/Mark Treichel is joined by Mike Macchiarola, Partner and CEO of Olden Lane, for a structured deep-dive into the most recent NCUA Annual Report. Mike organizes his analysis into seven interlocking themes — what he calls the Magnificent Seven — and the conversation walks through each one with quantitative detail and practical implications for credit union leadership.In this episode:•        The system is strong but the tone of the report is cautious — and why that is the right posture•        Consolidation math: credit union count down roughly 3.7% year over year, with losses concentrated on the small end of the barbell•        Average age of a credit union member (53) versus the average U.S. resident (38.5), and what the widening gap implies•        Member acquisition cost approaching $900, roughly double the level of two to three years ago•        The median credit union has posted negative member growth for six consecutive quarters•        Why return on assets and net worth are stronger than they look — and the one-time factors propping them up•        Regulatory philosophy pendulum: elimination of reputational risk, rejection of regulation by enforcement, extended exam cycles, and ten-plus deregulation announcements•        Innovation is now central to the agenda: stablecoin rulemaking, NCUA's historical pattern of being ahead on derivatives and non-member shares•        FinTech competitive picture: SoFi, Robinhood, Wealthfront, and Coinbase deposits and growth rates against the credit union industry•        The bigness question: 73% of credit unions hold 13% of assets; the top 21 credit unions hold 25%•        How NCUA itself is changing — roughly 25% of staff exited through the departure plan, single-member board, and what that means for industry timing•        The announcement that Olden Lane is joining Stifel NicolausMike's analysis at Olden Lane is built on quarterly tier-by-tier data on the credit union industry. This conversation is a concentrated version of the themes his team tracks and the practical conclusions they draw from them.

www.marktreichel.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-treichel/The NCUSIF and the DIF are similar but different.  Today we do a deep dive on that and more.