Colo. Takes Up Conversion Issue

DENVER - The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies' Commission of Financial Services Chris Myklebust introduced a series of bylaw options aimed at fending off hostile takeovers and conversions to mutual savings institutions.

One bylaw option offers credit unions the explicit protection to ward off unwanted merger proposals. Another optional bylaw gives credit union boards a choice between requiring a majority vote of all members or a two-thirds majority of voting members before any conversion can be pursued.

"The choice I've provided all credit unions in the state was designed to give the individual boards the opportunity to discuss their values around the conversion process and create a foundation for the decision-making process that can be determined in the privacy of their own boardrooms," Myklebust said in a release.