Opposition Mounts to NCUA Transparency Bid

ARLINGTON, Va. – NAFCU on Friday joined CUNA in expressing its opposition to an NCUA proposal which would require the disclosure of golden parachutes and other significant remuneration involved in credit union mergers. In a comment letter sent to NCUA, NAFCU said it does not believe the agency has show a need for the proposed disclosure rule, one of several proposals issued by NCUA aimed at creating more transparency for members. “While we recognize that the proposed rule is designed to ensure that executive self-dealing will not be a motivating factor in merger deliberations, NAFCU is extremely concerned that the proposal may have a chilling effect on the right of federal credit unions to make reasonable business decisions to benefit their members without achieving this goal,” said NAFCU, in a comment letter signed by its chief lobbyist Dan Berger. NAFCU’s expression of opposition came two days after CUNA also issued its objections to the transparency rule, saying NCUA has not shown a need for the additional public disclosures. NAFCU also expressed its opposition on Friday to another NCUA proposal which would set clear and uniform rules for member access to books and records. NAFCU said it supports member rights to access of records under state corporate laws, but is not “convinced, however, that these rights should be federally regulated at this time.” NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson has proposed the rules because she said credit unions should follow the lead of publicly owned companies and other public entities in opening their records and deliberations to their owners. However, credit unions have been slow to embrace efforts in the overall market to increase transparency, arguing, as NAFCU does in its comment letter on member access, that publicly available records, like 5300 call reports, provide adequate information for members.