Next week's House Banking Committee hearing on corporate credit unions is likely to focus on interlocking directorships between the industry liquidity centers and the Credit Union National Association.
It's also likely to be testy.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's contentious," said David John, a lobbyist for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.
"You have two diametrically opposed viewpoints."
The hearing also is expected to cover whether capital standards for credit unions need to be toughened; whether corporates should be allowed to compete; and whether corporates are even necessary,-now that more credit unions are investing surplus funds on their own.
Of the nine scheduled witnesses, only CUNA president Ralph Swoboda and U.S. Central Credit Union president James R. Bell favor continuing shared management between corporates and state leagues.
About half of the 43 corporates share senior officials with state leagues, which are affiliates of CUNA. The U.S. Central board includes six officials of CUNA or related groups.
The National Credit Union Administration earlier this month issued a proposal to restrict ties between corporates and leagues; last week CUNA's executive committee voted to sue the regulatory agency if the final rule isn't significantly softer than the current proposal.
H. Allen Carver, director of corporate credit unions, will testify for the NCUA at the heating.
The other scheduled witnesses, all of whom are expected to criticize interlocking relationships, are:
* James Barth, an Auburn University finance professor.
* Paul Bauer, president of the Bauer Group, a Coral Gables, Fla.-based consulting group.
* Harold Black, head of the finance department at the University of Tennessee.
* Thomas McCool, an associate director for the General Accounting Office.
* Richard Johnson, president of Western Corporate Federal Credit Union.
* Kenneth Robinson, president of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.
