HONOLULU -
"Democracy, I believe, runs on information," said NCUA Board Member Rodney Hood, of a proposal to increase member access to internal credit union records. "It's important to member/owners to have access to be informed member/owners."
"The (proposed) rules will allow them to know all that they need to know in making an informed decision," said Hood, during a discussion with fellow Board Member Gigi Hyland and NAFCU Chairman John Milazzo, president of Campus FCU.
NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson was scheduled to appear at the conference too, but was unable to travel because of a health issue.
The member access proposal, which has been widely opposed by credit unions during the public comment period, would set specific standards for the kinds of documents open to member scrutiny and thresholds for member petitions to obtain the records.
Hood sought to ease the concerns of managers and directors by insisting the proposal is aimed at giving members access to minutes of board and committee meetings, and will not open up confidential member of employee records to member scrutiny. "No one is going to have access to personnel or member records," he stated.
Hyland said a separate proposal which would allow NCUA to once again enforce bylaws at individual credit unions is aimed at protecting traditional member rights. "It is important that NCUA be an arbiter," of bylaws, said Hyland.
However, she insisted the proposed rule will set limits on when NCUA will get involved in enforcing bylaws. NCUA had the authority to enforce credit union bylaws until the early 1980s but gave it up as part of a move toward deregulation.
On other issues, Hood spoke out against hostile takeover attempts among credit unions, referring to this spring's failed effort by Wings Financial FCU to acquire Continental FCU. "I don't think that the credit union system needs hostile takeovers," said Hood.
An increase in hostile takeovers, said Hood, would have negative effects on the traditional cooperation of credit unions in numerous initiatives, such as CUSOs, partnerships and shared branching.
"I love working with you all because of the collegial environment that you have," said Hood. "Hostile takeovers do not belong in this environment."
The advent of hostile takeovers, said Hood, "will have a harmful and deleterious affect on our credit union system. We will do everything we can to assure it doesn't rear its ugly head again."
On another NCUA proposal to clarify the rules on community charters, Hyland said NCUA feels the current process is too cumbersome and time consuming and needs to be clarified, in certain instances.
"The community chartering process is taking way too long and requiring way too much paperwork for you," she said. By putting out community charter applications for public comment it could help lower the risk of future legal challenges (by the banks), who will be given the opportunity to provide input along the way, she added.
Hood, a former Community Reinvestment Act officer at banks, also asserted that credit unions do not need CRA to serve their communities. "I will continue to support keeping CRA out of the credit union system," he stated.
