Chip Filson

A Midwesterner by birth and upbringing, Chip Filson grew up in small towns where people mostly knew each other.  Families got together after church for lunch on Sundays and holidays.   Extended reunions would take place every summer in a local park as most relatives lived driving distance from each other.

After college Chip wanted to see the world.   He Spent two years at Oxford, four years with Uncle Sam on USS Windham Cty LST-1170, and at NSD Yokosuka, Japan.  These overseas adventures were capped off by three years in Sydney Australia where he worked as an International Banking Officer for the First National Bank of Chicago in the local Representative Office.

Returning to the US with two daughters who spoke Aussie (lasted about three weeks), Chip took a job as Credit Union Supervisor for the State of Illinois along with two wonderful colleagues Ed Callahan and Bucky Sebastian.  After five years, the three friends traveled together to Washington DC to be part of the leadership team at NCUA from October 1981 through May 1985.   Ed was Chair of the NCUA Board, Bucky Executive Director and General Counsel, and Chip was Director of the Office of Programs.  This office included President of the CLF, oversight of the NCUSIF and the office of examination and insurance.

In both regulatory roles they experienced and helped transform the regulators and credit unions to the new era of deregulation.  As Ed described this goal, it was to transfer responsibility for the business decisions of credit unions to the Boards and managers, those closest to the members, and away from the government.

In April 1985 the three men co-founded Callahan and associates, from which Chip retired in 2018, converting the firm to employee owned,  or ESOP.

Chip’s current interests include a blog on credit unions at Just a Member. He and his wife, Joan, enjoy gardening, continuing to sing in community choirs, and staying in touch with friends and family.

Credit Union Industry Commentary

Billions More Reasons For The NCUA To End The Deepening Secrecy

More than $8 billion of credit union money is tied up in and around the regulator’s bailout of the corporates, but little else is really ...
Credit Union Industry Commentary

NCUA Shows Nobody The Money, Except For The Attorneys

The agency’s board ducks responsibility and shrouds in secrecy what’s happening with $3 billion in recoveries from the sellers of dubious private mortgage securities.
Credit Union Industry Commentary

Money Indeed Changes Everything: An Open Letter To The NCUA Board

The NCUA could accomplish so much more by being open about how it plans to manage and distribute billions of dollars from the corporate credit ...
Credit Union Industry Commentary

Five Corporate Estates Gain $570.1 Million In Second Quarter, But NCUA Secrecy Remains

The latest news should be good for credit unions invested in the failed corporates, but lack of regulator clarity makes it hard to know what's ...
Credit Union Industry Commentary

NCUA Continues To Milk The Share Insurance Cash Cow

Federal regulator grows its own budget instead of using credit union’s cooperative insurance fund as a collective resource to rehabilitate or resolve credit unions in ...
Credit Union Industry Commentary

The Corporate Bailout Fund Grows While Credit Unions Wait

The need for monitoring grows as does the bank account as another $161 million is added ahead of the fund’s 2021 shutdown date.
Credit Union Industry Commentary

Now Is The Time To End The NCUA’s Secrecy Over The Corporate Bailout

While credit unions await payback, a look at the agency’s audit numbers for the past six years show its secretive rescue plan might have cost ...
Credit Union Industry Commentary

$830 Million Surplus In Corporate AMEs Puts Resolution Plan In New Phase

Three critical questions about the corporate resolution plan to be addressed at this Thursday's board meeting.
Credit Union Industry Commentary

A Cash Cow 7 Years In The Making

A review of NCUSIF audits show a rebuff of reality that marks seven years of building budgets while thwarting the fund’s intent to sustain and ...
Features

Credit Unions Helping America’s Military Community

The Pentagon Federal Credit Union and its Foundation sponsored a special concert of American patriotic songs by the US ...
CreditUnions.com
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