Editor’s Note: The following letter was sent in response to a column by Joy Peterson, CEO of Bessemer System FCU, and a follow-up column by Frank J. Diekmann that invited input to CUToday.info on the issue of credit unions and regulatory burden.
By Jennifer Tiedman
I completely agree with Joy’s article comments and wish I would have written the article myself.
I believe NCUA has become a bit of bully as opposed to regulator who cares about who they are regulating. They want it their way or the highway. I don’t have time for their constant demanding burdens that we must do this or that. I will run my credit union the way it was meant to be run, with members well-being foremost, in my opinion.
I have expressed many times to higher ups that when a new “rule or regulation” is to be implemented they should be upfront in telling which size/scope of credit unions are affected. For me, always having to read a whole bill to discern if it applies to my credit union is so time consuming, especially when we are not a complex credit union.
This goes back to an article I wrote in 2010 regarding investing in corporate credit unions and how we should be limited to one. I was/am a member of two corporates and opined, “NCUA is basically telling me how to run our credit union, when that is up to the board of directors. This proposed amendment is restricting free market enterprise and could create a monopoly by limiting choice.”
Stepping on Toes
I have commented on other issues such as Reg Z thresholds, Adverse Action Notices, risk-based capital, small business lending, etc. I have no qualms in making the “regulators” answer to their proposals.
And don’t get me started on the burdensome process to apply for grants or some such designation to get relief to help our members.
I can say amen to all of her writings and have shared her article with my board. One board member replied he didn’t realize NCUA was “stepping on our toes” so much. Yes, board, that is what they have become, an entity that has lost its way in helping small credit unions succeed.
Jennifer Tiedman is president of the $11-million FIRST PACE Credit Union in West St. Paul, Minn.