WASHINGTON-A North Carolina Congressman took NCUA to task last week for penalizing all state-chartered CUs in his home state because one, State Employees', violated NCUA rules by publicizing its CAMEL code (
"I think you're way beyond the authority you have to do this," Mel Watts (D-NC) told NCUA Executive Director David Marquis.
As Credit Union Journal was first to report, NCUA has announced it will separately examine all 52 state-chartered credit unions in North Carolina, rather than allow the state regulator, which allowed the CAMEL code disclosure, to conduct an examination on its behalf. The additional examinations will require increased costs and time for the credit unions.
"You're going to go out and make the lives of 52 other credit unions miserable simply because you don't like the actions of one credit union?" said Watts during a hearing, adding the agency should not "retailiate" in such fashion.
Marquis told Rep. Watt NCUA rules prohibit the public disclosure of CAMEL codes and that state-chartered CUs like SECU are subject to NCUA rules by virtue of their federal deposit insurance. Disclosing CAMEL codes, he said, raises a host of safety and soundness issues.
Watt insisted that NCUA provide him with the proper legal citation to prove it has the authority to stage the additional examinations of state charters.
