ON DEADLINE

Bill Would Exempt Some CUs On MBL Cap

WASHINGTON-A measure introduced in the House last week would relieve some of the pressure on faith-based credit unions specializing in member business loans by exempting religious-based loans from the 12.25% (of assets) ceiling on MBLs. The bill, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) is similar to a proposal introduced by Royce last year which was eventually added to the regulatory relief package. The MBL cap has been the target of credit unions ever since it was added to HR 1151, the CU Membership Access Act, in 1998. This proposal would affect about two dozen CUs.

Firm Projects '02 Loan Growth To Surpass '01

WASHINGTON-Callahan & Associates is projecting that loan growth among CUs during 2002 will surpass that of 2001, while sharing growth will actually trail that of one year earlier. Participants in the firms' First Look program reported share growth of 14.0% for 2002, just below 2001's 14.7% rate, while loan growth reached 10.0% for the year, well above the industry's 6.7% rate in 2001. Callahan's cautioned, however, that the 282 CUs participating in the research have generally outperformed the rest of the industry throughout the year, overall industry stats will be lower.