NCUA Seeks Consensus On UnderservedDilemma

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - (01/13/06) – The NCUA Board will ask creditunions for guidance week on how to proceed on the festering legalchallenge over its underserved expansions policy, which has beenchallenged by the bankers in federal court. The Board is expectedto ask at its monthly meeting next week for public comments whetherNCUA should formally restrict underserved expansions to multiplegroup credit unions, as the American Bankers Association claims thelaw currently does. And it will ask what effect a permanent halt topreviously approved underserved expansions would have if those 220credit unions were forced to stop serving those underservedcommunities. In its suit the ABA has asked the U.S. District Courtin Utah to declare as illegal all underserved expansions NCUA hasapproved for community charters, which number as many as200.