RICHMOND, Va.–A credit union here has scored an incremental victory in its year-long legal and regulatory skirmish with banks in the state.
A State Corporation Commission examiner last week recommended upholding the disputed approval of Virginia Credit Union’s application to offer membership to the 10,000-member Medical Society of Virginia, according to Richmond Biz Sense.
As CUToday.info has reported, the dispute began with a petition filed in 2019 by the Virginia Bankers Association and several of its member banks and which challenged VACU’s FOM expansion request as going too far beyond the statutory limit of membership expansion of 3,000 potential members at a time. It is the largest such request ever by a credit union in Virginia, due to the size of the group and its statewide reach, Richmond Biz Sense reported.
MSV’s members are mainly physicians.
Comment Period Now Open
According to Richmond Biz Sense, the examiner’s recommendation is only a next step in the process, which now requires a comment period until Oct. 29 and a final order from the SCC. The commission has the power to accept, modify or reject the examiner’s recommendation.
VACU spokesman Glenn Birch told Richmond Biz Sense the credit union remains confident in its position.
“We are pleased with the recommendation,” Birch said. “After hearing all the evidence, and reviewing the documents in the record, we feel that the hearing examiner has issued a thorough, detailed, and well-reasoned recommendation and we anticipate that the commission will appropriately adopt her recommendation. We look forward to offering our services to members of the Medical Society of Virginia.”
Bankers Withhold Comment
VBA CEO Bruce Whitehurst told the publication his organization will have no comment until the SCC makes its final determination.
The $4-billion VACU originally filed its MSV application in late 2018 before withdrawing it and then refiling.
Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions Commissioner Joe Face initially approved the application in summer 2019, leading to the VBA group’s successful petition to put the matter on hold for further argument, Richmond Biz Sense reported.