ARLINGTON, Va. – NAFCU this week vowed to fight any effort by NCUA to require all federal credit unions to disclose executive compensation to their members.
Fred Becker said his members expressed immediate opposition to the proposal, issued by NCUA Monday, and they believe there already are adequate means for members to obtain details on executive compensation. “It’s up the members and the credit union boards to work this out,” Becker told The Credit Union Journal.
“It’s up to the individual credit union. It’s not a safety and soundness issue,” said Becker.
The proposal, one of several included in the report by NCUA’s Outreach Task Force, would require each federally chartered credit unions to disclose the information on senior executive compensation to members, but not the public. It falls short of current requirements of state chartered credit unions, which make that information public in annual Form 990's submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, and for publicly owned corporations, which make it public in annual proxy statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the NCUA proposal, which would have to be voted first by the three-member NCUA Board, a credit union could make the information available in its annual report, on its website, or at its annual meeting.
The issue of disclosing executive compensation long has been a controversial one for credit union executives, who currently are fighting another proposal by NCUA which would require executive compensation and any golden parachute agreements be disclosed to members during a merger.
NAFCU will oppose another proposal by the Task Force to make permanent a pilot program collecting data on how credit unions serve their membership, said Becker.
