WASHINGTON—The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has called for the House Financial Services Committee to review NCUA's decision to
authorize an emergency merger between PenFed Credit Union and Progressive Credit Union.
As CUToday.info reported here, the American Bankers Association is also objecting to the merger, alleging the merger is about more than just coming to the rescue of a struggling credit union.
"We are disappointed that the ICBA has chosen to continue its long history of attacking credit unions at a time when our industry is hard at work trying to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors negatively impacted by the current ongoing federal government shutdown," wrote NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger to House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
"Credit unions are about helping their members, not trying to limit competition, as appears to be ICBA's motive here," Berger said.
NCUA’s ‘Mission’
Berger further stated "NCUA has a mission to oversee the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), which, in turn, protects credit union members and ultimately the American taxpayer."
"NCUA has used similar emergency authority to resolve issues with other credit unions and keep them out of conservatorship in the past," Berger added. "So, this action was nothing new, and it helped prevent a charge to the NCUSIF and a loss of financial services to Progressive Credit Union's members."