New leadership appointed for U.S. Central, WesCorp

LENEXA, Kan., and SAN DIMAS, Calif. (3/24/09)--U.S. Central FCU and Western Corporate FCU (WesCorp) have new leaders to see them through the conservatorships imposed Friday by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Jim Nance, who oversaw U.S. Central's asset and liability management from 1993 to 1996, has been named president/CEO of U.S. Central, effective yesterday. He most recently was chief administration officer of Icap Capital Markets, based in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Nance told Reuters that credit unions will handle their problems on their own without having to turn outside the credit union system. He stressed that the credit union industry remains extremely well capitalized and will not likely need a bailout from taxpayers (Reuters March 22).

Nance replaces Francis Lee. All other senior management remains intact, but the board has been replaced by NCUA, said Lyle Niedens, director of communications at U.S. Central.

Philip R. Perkins has been named president/CEO of San Dimas, Calif.-based WesCorp, replacing Bob Siravo. Chief Investment Officer Bob Burrell also is no longer with the corporate, according to its website.

Perkins brings more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, according to the website.

Most recently, Perkins served as senior vice president, senior portfolio manager at Delaware Instruments, where he was responsible for asset allocation and sector decisions for a $5 billion Multi-Sector Fixed Income Mutual Fund complex. He also was with Deutsche Bank for five years as managing director of global markets in London, and as director, emerging markets in Moscow. Prior to that, Perkins was CEO of Dinner Key Advisors, a registered broker-dealer founded to trade derivative mortgage-backed bonds with institutional clients. He was a mortgage/collateralized mortgage obligation trader at Salomon Brothers from 1985 to 1990.

In a letter to members on Friday, Perkins said WesCorp "will continue uninterrupted and members will not experience any disruption of services."

NCUA Executive Director David Marquis told a webinar Monday afternoon that both Nance and Perkins "have extensive capital markets backgrounds."

courtesy of cuna.org