Texas CUs-turned-banks change names, prepare for IPO

CU Times - January 6, 2006

FORT WORTH, Texas (1/6/06)--Two Texas banks, recently converted from credit unions, are updating their names and preparing to sell stock to raise capital.

OmniAmerican CU, Fort Worth, changed its name to OmniAmerican Bank Sunday. Plano-based Community CU also changed its name to ViewPoint Bank at the start of the year (The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Jan. 4).

OmniAmerican Bank said it plans to sell about $100 million in new stock this summer to raise capital. According to the National Credit Union Administration Call Reports, OmniAmerican reported net income of $4.5 million during the first nine months of 2005, nearly $4 million less than the same period in 2004, said the Star-Telegram.

ViewPoint Bank also intends to sell about $100 million in stock this year. It was the largest credit union ever to switch to a bank charter.

As Community CU, the institution had filed a suit against the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), its chairman and its regional director in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that challenged NCUA's refusal to certify its membership vote in favor of converting to a federal mutual savings bank.

In August 2005, Magistrate Judge Don Bush of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the credit union had complied with NCUA's regulations.

During the same period, $1.4 billion asset OmniAmerican also launched its conversion process.

The court battle led boards at Credit Union National Association and a number of leagues to approve their own policies regarding credit union-to-bank conversions.

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