Thursday was the last day members of the $1.6 billion SoutheastCorporate Federal Credit Union members could contribute PerpetualContributed Capital in advance of a planned merger with the $3.7 billion Corporate One Federal CreditUnion.

Members of the Tallahassee, Fla.-based corporate must convert orraise $75 million worth of PCC to fulfill their end of the mergerdeal.

According to a merger update posted on Southeast Corporate'swebsite, credit unions are required to convert existing MemberCapital Shares, and purchase additional PCC if necessary, to meet arequirement of 0.9% of assets.

Southeast Corporate President/CEO Brad Miller declined to sharehis institution's progress toward the $75 million goal, but saidWednesday that “things are progressing as expected” and thecorporate would publicly release results after members had beeninformed.

Corporate One President/CEO Lee Butke said Wednesday he was“nothing but pleased” with Southeast Corporate's progress todate.

Butke also declined to provide any numbers on Southeast, becausehe said the process of a credit union committing to a capitalinvestment is a timely one, requiring volunteer approval, usuallyat a monthly board meeting, and the transferring of funds into anescrow account.

“I'm very enthusiastic,” Butke said of Southeast Corporate'sability to make the goal and the future of the merger. “They havesome fence sitters, but we had our own during our own capitalraise.”

Should Southeast Corporate not achieve its PCC goal, it doesn'tnecessarily kill the merger. Butke stressed that Corporate One'smost important goal is to be well-capitalized and meet NCUA capitalrequirements before the merger, and be “on track” to meet that goalafter the merger is complete. The $75 million is means to thatend.

Should Southeast fall short, Butke said, the merger could stillproceed at the discretion of Corporate One's board.

“To merely be adequately capitalized is a very short-sighted goal,” said theleader of the Columbus, Ohio-based corporate. “The agency is goingto want us at the well capitalized level, and our members want usto be well capitalized, too.”