WASHINGTON–CUNA has sent a letter to NCUA formally outlining its recommendations for reforms to field of membership for federal charters.
In the letter, CUNA suggests conducting field of membership reform by breaking changes down into three categories:
- Simple policy changes
- Items that would require a rule change
- Items requiring legislative action
NCUA currently has a working group examining the issue of field of membership, and all three agency board members have spoken out on the issue. Vice Chairman Rick Metsger has made the issue of FOM reform a particular priority. As CUToday.info reported here, there has been a mini-trend taking place as federal charters convert to state charters.
“CUNA places field of membership reform among our top issues of concern because credit unions tell us that the current system is unnecessarily cumbersome and restricts their ability to grow to serve their members and continue to fulfill their mission to promote thrift and provide access to credit for provident purposes to their members,” the trade group said in its letter. “We appreciate NCUA’s efforts to reform field of membership requirements and we applaud the creation of the NCUA working group to look at these issues.”
CUNA, saying it remains a strong proponent of the dual chartering system, said it applauded “NCUA for recognizing the stagnant nature of the agency’s FOM requirements when compared to some innovative state charters. While we recognize that NCUA is restricted by some provisions of the Federal Credit Union Act (FCU Act), these restrictions are not an excuse to think small. Innovation and courage are needed from NCUA to change FOM rules to ensure that the federal charter remains viable in the future.”
Many of the recommendations being made by CUNA have come out of its Federal Credit Union Subcommittee.
The complete text of CUNA’s letter and recommendations appears in CUToday.info’s The News section here.