• Statements of Income
• Statements Of Financial Condition
• Chairman's Report 2008
• Treasurer's Report 2008
• Supervisory Committee's Report 2008
• President's Report 2008

Annual Report 2008

Statements of Income
Years Ended December 31, 2008 and 2007

Statements Of Financial Condition
Years Ended December 31, 2008 and 2007

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Chairman's Report

2008 was quite a year. The deteriorating economic situation that started in 2007 rampaged through the Financial Industry, with many household names imploding under vast amounts of bad debt. Several Wall St. firms and many large banks are simply gone, and others are barely a shadow of what they once were. Many survive only due to the largest bail-out in history.

While the Banking and Securities industries were crashing Metro did quite well. Last year I mentioned that Metro never loosened underwriting standards to participate in the subprime mortgage marketplace, nor invested in higher paying debt instruments of dubious value. Our strategy of focusing on Member needs over the temptations of the latest hot financial product, served us extremely well in this financial crisis. Read more about our performance for 2008 in the accompanying Treasurer's Report.

While 2008 has not been a crisis for us, we have been affected by the economic fall out. We have to deal with the negative effects of the drop in home and portfolio values and job losses. These problems are real and affect our Membership, and Metro is well-positioned to offer the best financial assistance, products and services during this uncertain time.

In March we moved into new office space after selling our old building at Queens Plaza. We strove to offer the best savings rates around, and attracted large amounts of Member's deposits, marking 2008 as a record year of growth.

Just as we were feeling settled into our new office and getting traction on several new initiatives we had The Fire. A five-alarm fire in November closed our main office building for four months, and could have closed us down if not for the perfect execution of our Disaster Recovery Plan. Much credit goes to our Management team led by CEO Peter Nalaskowski, our Staff, our infrastructure partners, and Progressive Credit Union, our disaster recovery partner Credit Union.

I would like to thank our Management and Staff, the Management and Staff of Progressive Credit Union, and Metro's Board of Directors, Supervisory Committee and other Volunteers for their very hard work this past year, notably making 2008 one for the record books.

Sincerely,

Robert G. Morrison
Chairman

r.morrison@greatermetrofcu.org

Treasurer's Report 2008

There is a proverb or maybe it is a warning "May you live in interesting times". In reviewing 2008 I suspect it is the latter. As I sit in front of my computer reviewing the financial performance of your credit union during 2008 I have to say 2008 was the most interesting year this credit union has had in its 38 year history.

On January 1, 2008 the Dow Industrial Index stood at 13,265 and Metro opened the year with $51,183,834 in assets. The country was preparing for the Presidential Primaries and the credit union was preparing to move to its new office. The sale of the 8ridge Plaza office was nearly complete and management and staff were busy sorting and packing for the anticipated move. The economy began slowing and even in Washington D.C. people were starting to talk about the possibility of a Recession. Rumblings were starting about Sub-Prime Credits and possible problems in Mortgage Derivative Securities. By December 31, 2008, 8ear Sterns, WAMU and Lehman Brothers were gone, Citibank was being bailed out, the Dow was down 34% to 8,776, and your credit union was at $65,788,708 is assets. I feel confident saying your credit union had a better year than most.

The financial highlights for 2008 included:

That is not to say that the year did not have its challenges for your credit union or the credit union Industry as a whole. Your credit union's commitment to serving its members helped it avoid chasing the exotic investment & loan products that outsmarted the biggest and brightest "Wall Street" types.

This annual report contains more of the financial details and the auditors report for 2008. Take a look through the report and feel free to contact me at rambrose@greatermetrofcu.org if you have any questions or comments regarding the financial details.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of 2008 wasn't the markets or even financial. In November 2008 the building housing our new office was the site of a 5 alarm fire that destroyed much of the building. Fortunately our offices were closed that day and no one was seriously injured. Our management and staff sprung into action that Saturday afternoon and by Monday the credit union was up and operating in our backup disaster site. We owe a big thank you to our sister Progressive Credit Union in Manhattan for their assistance and hospitality during the recovery. "People helping People" is a credit union motto but in 2008 we at Metro learned it is more than just a cute motto It is what credit unions do!

We know, you our members, have many choices for financial services, we appreCiate your choosing to be our member. We look forward to celebrating our 40'" Anniversary in November 2010 by renewing our commitment to all our current and future members. Hopefully, 2009 will be less "interesting" than 2008 but rest assured the staff and volunteers remain committed to expanding safe and secure financial services to all our members in the GREATER METRO area.

Respectfully Submitted:
Robert K. Ambrose

Report of the Supervisory Committee

The Credit Union Supervisory Committee consists of volunteer members appointed by the Board of Directors, plus a Board liaison and acts as a link between the board, management, and the membership. In 2008 the volunteers were Thomas McCarthy, Chairman, lisa Belifiore, Steven Goldberger, Andrea Nelson, and Della Terzolo. Vincent D'Agostino was the Board liaison. In addition to providing a link to the members, the Supervisory Committee is also responsible for conducting an internal audit and to review that management is effectively carrying out the plans and policies established by the Board. The Supervisory Committee again retained the outside accounting firm of Wojeski and Company to audit the Credit Union's practices and internal controls, and to render a decision on the financial reports that Management prepares. Management again received an unqualified opinion audit, indicating that Wojeski is comfortable with the reporting done by the Credit Union's Management, and the financial condition of the Credit Union as of December 31, 2008.

To provide an extra level of comfort, the Committee has retained the services of Wojeski and Company, who provided us with the services normally performed by an internal audit function. Monthly, an accountant from Wojeski and Company makes an on-site visit to the Credit Union to review particular aspects of the Credit Union's operation. A strict schedule has been prepared and approved to assure that all operations of the Credit Union are reviewed multiple times during the year.

The Supervisory Committee is established to serve all members, and to respond to any concerns or questions that may arise. The Committee may be independently contacted at:

Supervisory Committee
Greater Metro Federal Credit Union
31-10 37th Avenue, Suite 403
Long Island City, New York 11101

Thomas G McCarthy
Chairman

President's Report - 2008

With a new location, new furniture and equipment, a new management team and most importantly a new outlook on growth and success, 2008 was to be a launching pad into our Credit Union's future. Even after our last Annual Meeting and through the end of the summer, there was little indication of what hardships would befall the general economy, the credit union industry and our own brick and mortar later in the fall.

The scope of business failures on Wall Street had an almost immediate impact on the wealth of Main Street. Corporate losses, the downward spiraling of rates and the real estate markets, the diminished value in mutual and pension funds and increasing unemployment rates, re-introduced Government intervention into our free market society. Will we see a turnaround soon? We all hope so.

Although natural person credit unions (such as us) have escaped the losses suffered by other financial institutions, the Corporate system we use for clearing as well as for liquidity and investment purposes, did not fare as well. Through the end of 2008 and as recently as June 2009, the NCUA has worked on a "bailout" plan to cover Corporate losses resulting from their write down of investments. It is important to note that the investments were in approved instruments; however the industry losses of 2008 affected highly rated instruments as well. As you can see from our audited statements, natural person credit unions as we, will share some of the burden in paying for those Corporate losses through assessments calculated by the NCUA.

But the irony around the disaster in this economy is that your Credit Union has seen unprecedented growth during this time. Assets at Greater Metro at December 31, 2008, stood at $65.8 million as compared to $51.2 million one year earlier. Excluding the increase in assets contributed by the sale of our building, the annual increase in assets was 16%. At year end our net worth ratio was over 17%. The NCUA considers net worth ratios of 7% as "well capitalized". This safety, added to by the government's increased guarantee on deposits of up to $250,000, and our generous rates on savings, have been the reasons that we've continued to grow in 2009. Our assets at June 30, 2009 have passed the $77 million mark which is another 17% increase over year-end 2008.

Finally, the cruelest event suffered by Greater Metro was the fire that forced our evacuation from our office headquarters in November. Disaster Recovery Plans are a requirement of all Federal Credit Unions and almost all institutions have them printed in binders, but few ever get the unwanted chance to test them. On Saturday, November 20th a five alarm fire raged through our building forcing us to put our DR plan into action. We were up and running on Monday morning at Progressive CU in Manhattan and continued to provide our membership uninterrupted service for the following four months.

We returned to our office at the end of March 2009, four months behind in getting our 2009 initiatives off the ground. Even the attached audited statements are a product of our independent accounting firm's site work that had to be rescheduled several times between January and March. We are now focused and poised to successfully meet the challenges we set for 2009. The Board of Directors, with the help of management and an outside marketing firm, agreed on a name change for our Credit Union. In order to be more inclusive and inviting to our diverse membership, we will be changing our name to "Greater Metro Federal Credit Union". There are some details to be finalized but the rollout of our new name should be completed by September 2009.

The marketplace has presented us with additional opportunities for success. Our growth in assets represents our members' acknowledgement of the safety associated with our institution . We have been able to offer better than competitive savings rates and our members have been rewarded by keeping and transferring in additional funds with us. It is our goal to develop products and services that will not only keep these assets here, but through better and more frequent communication get more members to make Greater Metro Federal Credit Union (soon to be known as Greater Metro Federal Credit Union) their primary financial institution.

Peter Nalaskowski
President

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