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Federal history
Federal company history timeline
Federal Steam Specialties Company opened its doors on April 23, 1918.
Strong’s aggressive action to stem a recession in 1923 through a large purchase of government securities gave clear evidence of the power of open market operations to influence the availability of credit in the banking system.
By 1929 Commercial's assets had grown from the original $10,000 to $4 million.
In December 1931, the Hoover administration submitted the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act to Congress.
New York Times. “Hearings Are Begun On Credit Pool Bill.” December 19, 1931.
In 1931, the company bought the adjacent 100 feet of frontage property and added the present two-story building.
President Hoover signed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act on January 22, 1932, establishing the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The subtitle of the act indicated the RFC’s purpose:
On July 21, 1932, an amendment authorized the RFC to loan funds to state and municipal governments.
Crum, W. L. and J.B. Hubbard. “Review of the First Quarter of 1932.” Review of Economics and Statistics 14, no.
In March 1933 the powers of the RFC were liberalized still further to include authority to recapitalize banks through purchases of preferred stock.
On June 16, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933, a part of which established the FDIC.
The first Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was sworn in at the Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., on September 11, 1933.
In reaction to the Great Depression, Congress passed the Banking Act of 1933, better known as the Glass-Steagall Act, calling for the separation of commercial and investment banking and requiring use of government securities as collateral for Federal Reserve notes.
July 1934 — Claude Orchard, an executive at Armour & Company, is named head of the newly formed Federal Credit Union Division.
Reflecting the added inventory in the expanded warehouse, the company changed its name to Federal Supply Company in January 1935.
Also in January 1935, after finishing a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma, Louis Loeffler, Jr. started at Federal.
Under the impact of the Great Depression, however, assets fell to $2.1 million in 1935.
Brother Norman Loeffler joined him in June 1937, after completing an accounting degree at the University of Texas.
Louis Loeffler, Sr. passed away in September 1941, at age 56.
7, 1941 — During the attack on Pearl Harbor, P.W. Eldred, the former treasurer of Hawaiian Air Depot Federal Credit Union on the island of Oahu, was killed when he attempted to save the credit union’s records that were located in an office at Hickam Army Airfield.
The Federal Reserve System formally committed to maintaining a low interest rate peg on government bonds in 1942 after the United States entered World War II. It did so at the request of the Treasury to allow the federal government to engage in cheaper debt financing of the war.
Louis Loeffler, Sr. passed away in September 1941, at age 56. As a result, J. C. Fullerton ran the company until February 1945, when Louis Loeffler Jr. assumed the presidency.
Conflict between the Treasury and the Fed came to the fore when the Treasury directed the central bank to maintain the peg after the start of the Korean War in 1950.
With the passage of the Revenue Act of 1951, federal and state-chartered credit unions are granted an exemption from the federal income tax.
By 1952, the number of federal credit unions grows to nearly 6,000 with more than 2.8 million members.
Although James Fitzgerald retired in 1955, he continued to serve as board chairperson and went to the office nearly every day until his death the following year at the age of 87.
In 1959 Commercial got into data processing, signing up other savings-and-loans to help pay for a computer that more than met its own needs at the time.
By 1960 Commercial had five locations, and a new home office was opened two years later, when assets reached $100 million.
In February 1966, the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions, along with other federal agencies launch Project Moneywise (opens new window), an initiative to expand credit union services into low- to moderate-income areas across the country and improve the financial well-being of these communities.
In 1967 the association moved outside the Omaha metropolitan area for the first time by merging with Allied Building and Loan of Norfolk.
AboutAbout Created by the United States Congress in 1970, the National Credit Union Administration is an independent federal agency that insures deposits at federally insured credit unions, protects the members who own credit unions, and charters and regulates federal credit unions.
By the end of 1974 Commercial was the largest savings and loan association in Nebraska, with 15 offices and $516 million in assets.
By August 1979, when Paul Volcker was sworn in as Fed chairman, drastic action was needed to break inflation’s stranglehold on the United States economy.
In 1979 it became the first such thrift in its market to sell mortgage-backed bonds.
The Monetary Control Act of 1980 required the Fed to price its financial services competitively against private sector providers and to establish reserve requirements for all eligible financial institutions.
Also in 1981 Commercial introduced automated teller machines and spun off its lending division into a separate mortgage-banking subsidiary.
A full-service brokerage program was introduced in 1983.
1983: The firm is reincorporated as Commercial Federal S&L, and a holding company is formed.
July 18, 1984 – The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 is signed into law recapitalizing the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which had been experiencing financial stress for several years.
In September 1984, even before the holding company was formed, Commercial Federal had purchased an 81.3 percent interest in Systems Marketing Inc., a firm that primarily leased IBM peripheral computer equipment to Fortune 500 companies.
A national public offering of shares in Commercial Federal was completed before the end of 1984, with 1.76 million shares of common stock sold at $8.50 each.
In 1985, for example, Commercial Federal became the first financial institution in the nation to introduce personal banking machines (PBMs) in branch offices.
By early 1986 it was the largest depository financial institution in Nebraska, with assets in excess of $3 billion.
Two months after Alan Greenspan took office as the Fed chairman, the stock market crashed on October 19, 1987.
The Fed issued a short statement reminiscent of its announcement in 1987: “The Federal Reserve System is open and operating.
The company then moved into its fourth state--Oklahoma--when it acquired insolvent Territory Savings and Loan Association of Seminole, Oklahoma, in January 1988 for $4.2 million.
However, Commercial Federal faced some major challenges beginning in 1989.
Commercial Federal emerged by issuing a capital plan that was approved by the Federal Office of Thrift Supervision in May 1990.
Commercial Federal Savings and Loan Association converted its federal charter to a federal savings bank on July 30, 1990, changing its name to Commercial Federal Bank, FSB (the initials standing for Federal Savings Bank).
By the end of 1990, the credit union system has 12,891 federally insured credit unions, $223 billion in assets and 61 million members.
By 1991, 432 state-chartered credit unions will convert to federal insurance coverage.
During a six-month period in 1992, the parent company sold all $3.3 billion of its mortgage-backed securities to several investors.
In 1992 Commercial Federal ranked seventh among public thrifts based on five-year average return on equity and tenth based on profits per employee.
In October 1993 the company paid $18.2 million to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for 12 offices and the $567.9 million of deposits of Heartland Federal Savings and Loan Association of Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Commercial Federal also began bolstering its thrift holdings again in 1993, acquiring 19 thrift branches in Oklahoma and Kansas to reach a total of 67.
He serves as Chairman until 1993.
Moreover, for fiscal 1994 (the year ended June 30), operating earnings had increased 20 percent and total assets had reached $5.52 billion on deposits of $3.36 billion.
Moreover, the company was among the 17 largest thrift institutions in the nation in 1994.
In April 1995, Commercial Federal announced that it had acquired the Provident Federal Savings Bank of Lincoln, Nebraska.
The company continued to grow by acquisition. It bought Railroad Savings Corporation of Wichita, Kansas, in October 1995.
In 1995, Commercial Federal had $6 billion in assets and operated 72 branches in Nebraska (30 branches), Colorado (20), Oklahoma (17), and Kansas (5).
Another group had attempted the same thing in 1995; however, ComFed was able to fend off both these threats to its independence.
July 1996 – The United States District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturns the lower court’s decision and rules that all members of an occupation-based federal credit union must share one common bond.
In late 1996, Commercial announced the acquisition of Liberty Financial Corporation of Arizona for $108.6 million, which owned seven independent banks having assets of $620 million.
March 20, 1997 – H.R.1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act is introduced in the House of Representatives.
Our web site, federalcorp.com, launched in 1997, shortly after Federal published its first comprehensive bound catalog.
1997 – The United States Supreme Court agrees to hear the NCUA’s appeal of the Appeal Court’s ruling.
July 28, 1998 – The Credit Union Membership Access Act is passed by the United States Senate.
Larger deals followed in 1998, including acquisitions of First Colorado Bancorp, with assets of $1.6 billion, and AmerUs Bank of Des Moines, with $1.5 billion in assets.
The number of branch offices peaked at 259 in 1999; however, within a year ComFed had consolidated them down to 192.
Commercial Federal sold its namesake Omaha tower to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska in 1999.
2000: After doubling in size in two years, ComFed restructures.
A former Congressman, D'Amours serves as Chairman until 2000.
By the end of 2000, the credit union system has 10,316 federally insured credit unions, nearly $438 billion in assets and more than 77 million members.
In August 2001, ComFed's offices in the tower were moved to three different buildings.
Louis Loeffler, Jr. continued as chairman of the board until he retired in August, 2002.
A wave of home mortgage refinancing inspired by lower interest rates helped ComFed post record net income of $108.5 million for 2002.
Commercial Federal ended 2003 with assets of $12.2 billion, down about $900 million from the previous year.
In 2003, the Federal Reserve changed its discount window operations so as to have rates at the window set above the prevailing Fed Funds rate and provide rationing of loans to banks through interest rates.
He serves as NCUA Chairman until 2004.
Daniel Loeffler, the fourth generation, began at Federal in April 2008
15, 2008 – Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy.
9, 2008 – The NCUA Board approves the creation of the Credit Union System Investment Program and the Homeowners Affordability Relief Program to help credit unions weather increasing financial stress.
17, 2009 – President Barack Obama signs the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
24, 2009 – Debbie Matz becomes Chairman of the NCUA Board.
31, 2009 – In 2009, 27 consumer-owned credit unions fail, costing the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund $150 million.
July 21, 2010 – President Barack Obama signs into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that made permanent the $250,000 insurance protection for shares and deposits.
1, 2010 – United States Central Federal Credit Union and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union are placed into liquidation.
27, 2010 – The NCUA finalizes the first NCUA Guaranteed Note sale.
June 20, 2011 – The NCUA becomes the first federal financial institutions regulator to file suit in federal court against Wall Street firms to recover losses from sales of faulty mortgage-backed securities.
July 6, 2012 – The NCUA closes Western Bridge Corporate Federal Credit Union
1, 2013 – The Office of National Examinations and Supervision begins operations.
6, 2013 – To reduce regulatory burdens, NCUA changes the definition of a small, non-complex credit union to those entities with less than $50 million in assets, up from the prior $10 million in assets threshold.
26, 2014 – J. Mark McWatters is sworn in as a member of the NCUA Board.
17, 2015 – The NCUA Board approves a final rule that raises the asset ceiling for what is defined as a small credit union from $50 million to $100 million.
18, 2016 – The NCUA Board approves a final rule that changes the agency’s regulations governing member business lending and provides credit unions with greater flexibility to make commercial lending decisions.
23, 2017 – President Donald J. Trump designates J. Mark McWatters as Acting NCUA Chairman.
April 19, 2018 – The NCUA Board approves a final rule reducing regulatory burden on federally insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or greater by removing certain current capital planning and stress testing requirements.
March 16, 2020 – The NCUA issues a Letter to Credit Unions that outlines several strategies credit unions may consider when determining how to address the challenges associated with COVID-19.
April 24, 2020 – The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act is signed into law that provides about $484 billion in additional funding for coronavirus relief.
21, 2021 – The NCUA Board approves a final rule (opens new window) that amends the NCUA’s credit union service organization regulation.
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| Centric Parts | 1999 | $2.9M | 50 | 4 |
| Auto Alliance | 1999 | $1.6M | 30 | - |
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