NAFCU Sees Real Message BehindMagistrate's Ruling

ARLINGTON, Va. - (08/23/05) Although the recent recommendationhanded down in Community CU’s lawsuit against NCUA came downagainst the regulator’s decision not to approve the$1.4-billion CU’s conversion vote, the judgemagistrate’s decision is not an indictment againstNCUA’s conversion rules and regulations themselves, accordingto NAFCU’s Bill Donovan. "This decision deals only with thisspecific case," he said. "[The judge magistrate’s]recommendation does not appear to call into question the rules andregulations promulgated by NCUA, just its application of thoserules and regulations in this particular case." The message toNCUA, he said, is not that it hasn't established appropriate rulesand regulations, but that it must be sure that every aspect of itsuse of those regs is carefully documented. Case in point: the orderin which the disclosure materials was to be presented to CUmembers-as effected by the way the document was folded-was notincluded anywhere in NCUA's rules nor was it part of the formaladministrative record of the case, Donovan explained. "The judge,in essence, told NCUA that it needs to make certain to dot every'i' and cross every 't,'" Donovan related.