WASHINGTON – A North Carolina Congressman took NCUA to task this afternoon for penalizing all state chartered credit unions in his home state because one, State Employees’ CU, violated NCUA rules by publicizing its CAMEL code.
“I think you’re way beyond the authority you have to do this,” Mel Watts, D-N.C., told David Marquis, executive director of NCUA, which has announced it will separately examine all 52 state chartered credit unions in North Carolina, rather than allow the state regulator, which allowed the CAMEL code disclosure, to conduct an examination on its behalf. The additional examinations will require increased costs and time for the credit unions.
Watt, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, said during a hearing on an examinations reform proposal that NCUA should not be allowed to “retaliate” against all of his state’s credit unions because of the actions of one.
“You’re going to go out and make the lives of 52 other credit unions miserable simply because you don’t like the actions of one credit union?” asked Watt.
Marquis told Congressman Watts that NCUA rules prohibit the public disclosure of CAMEL codes and that state chartered credit unions like SECU are subject to NCUA regulations by virtue of their federal deposit insurance. He said the public disclosure of a single credit union’s CAMEL code could raise questions from consumers and others about the financial condition of other credit unions.
Watt insisted that NCUA provide him with the proper legal citation to prove it has the authority to stage the additional examinations of state charters.
