WASHINGTON—Saying it's his first "temp job" since college, interim CUNA President/CEO Bill Hampel says business at CUNA—including addressing credit union concerns over the structure of the trade association and state leagues—will keep moving.
Hampel, currently CUNA's SVP of research and policy analysis and chief economist, will take over as interim president and CEO on June 11, succeeding chief executive Bill Cheney,
Cheney is scheduled to start as president and CEO of the $10.2 billion SchoolsFirst FCU in Santa Ana, Calif., on June 11, taking over for Rudy Hanley who is retiring.
Stressing that he is not an applicant to fill the chief executive's role permanently, Hampel told Credit Union Journal in an interview Wednesday afternoon following the announcement that CUNA's senior team has worked together for a long time. "So what we need to do is keep going on the things we have been working on."
In the short term that will mean addressing the proposed risk based capital rule, which will have a large impact on credit unions, he noted. CUNA will also continue to closely follow housing finance reform in Congress.
"This is something we have been very involved in and will remain involved in because regardless of whether or not something passes this year, what the Senate is working on is likely to be the outline for whatever reform of GSEs is eventually adopted."
Hampel also pointed out CUNA has to stay "vigilant" on the issue of CU taxation.
"So 'Don't Tax My Credit Union' will stay front and center," said Hampel, noting he does not foresee any major new legislative initiatives in the offing.
"But if something comes up, we certainly won't wait to deal with it," he added.
Meanwhile,
The committee "has goals as to when they would like to complete the search, but they are also conducting a very thorough process," said Hampel. "They will complete the process as rapidly as they can do it effectively. I don't think there is any hard-and-fast deadline, but hope is that if things work out they should be done this fall."
He recognized that taking over as CUNA president comes at a time when
"There are number of issues, and the board has been discussing those issues," said Hampel. "We will continue doing preparatory work, gathering information on some of the issues credit unions want us to look into, but we are not going to come to any conclusions on any of the issues until the new [permanent] president is in the position."
Adding that he enjoys working as CUNA chief economist, Hampel said, "I am looking forward to this new role and I am also looking forward to it not being too long. I will miss being an economist for a while and will look forward to getting back to being an economist."
