ST. LOUIS -
"The Governor's signature brings finality to the long, arduous process we have endured over the past year," says Rosie Holub, Missouri CU Association CEO. "We are grateful that Missouri credit unions once again have the ability to expand and grow."
The statute changes took six months of negotiation between credit unions and the banking industry. The new law defines a credit union as: "a not-for-profit corporation organized for the purposes of encouraging thrift among its members, creating a source of credit at a fair and reasonable rate of interest, providing for the mutual benefit and general welfare of its members with the earnings, savings, benefits, and services being distributed to its members, for financial and financially-related services, and for an opportunity for its members to improve their economic and social conditions."
Under the new legislation, the 3,000 potential member limit on geographic expansions and the requirement that credit union expansions be published in the Missouri Register are also removed. Expansions will now be posted on the Missouri Division of Credit Union's Web site at www.cu.mo.gov.
In addition, the legal standing of bankers to file suit in regards to credit union field-of-membership expansions is restricted.
