ALEXANDRIA, Va.–The National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) said it “strongly rejects” a comment made by a member of the NCUA board that suggested banking groups should direct their ire at state regulatory agencies when it comes to field of membership expansions.
During the NCUA board meeting on Thursday, at which the board voted 3-0 to OK its new field of membership rules, NCUA Board Member Todd Harper said, “I know the bankers like to attack the NCUA, but in fact they need to address their concerns to the states that have expanded more quickly. We are merely bringing our standards up to theirs.”
The reference was prompted by the four-year long lawsuit filed by the American Bankers Association over FOM rules the agency OK’d in 2016 that was not finally resolved until the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year. Overall, credit unions were victorious in the case.
But NASCUS said it rejects any suggestion state regulators have been too lax in their interpretations of field of membership.
“We strongly reject Board Member Harper’s suggestion that bankers target state field of membership provisions. State supervisory agencies have taken great care to ensure that credit unions in their states have the appropriate fields of membership to adequately serve their members,” NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito said. “We have long asserted that the healthy competition of a strong dual charter system is beneficial to both federal and state-chartered credit unions and the final passage of NCUA’s field of membership rule is a step in that direction. As the insurer of state-chartered credit unions, it is inappropriate for an NCUA board member to suggest attacks of any kind on either state-chartered credit unions or state credit union regulators. We are gravely disappointed that Mr. Harper chose to ignore his responsibility as the federal insurer of credit unions to treat both federal and state-chartered credit unions in a neutral and unbiased manner.”