WASHINGTON — Though he wasn't appointed to the NCUA board (and the newest agency board member wasn't tested for his knowledge of cooperative principles) Chip Filson believes an initiative he launched in early 2013 has made — and is making — its mark.
That initiative, "A New Vision for Cooperative Regulatory Leadership for the 21st Century," but better known as Coops4Change, was announced during CUNA's GAC in February by Filson, chairman of Callahan & Associates.
It was initially best known for an online petition drive aimed at encouraging President Obama to nominate candidates to the NCUA Board who understand the cooperative business model. To get the White House to respond to a petition, 100,000 signatures are required. Filson's petition garnered 4,000 from within credit unions.
At a February press conference, Filson also announced he would seek one of the two NCUA board seats that would come open in 2013; the president recently appointed Rick Metsger to that seat.
Looking back, Filson believes the effort has been successful in achieving many of its objectives, which are ongoing.
"I think our purpose was to make cooperative principles important again not just for credit unions, but for the regulator," said Filson, who has been particularly outspoken about what he has called a "bank-like" actions by NCUA related to the corporate credit unions. "There has been an increasing recognition of the power of cooperative design."
Filson said the purpose of Coops4Change is threefold: to put the cooperative principles at the center of how decisions are made at NCUA; to provide every credit union stakeholder an opportunity to participate in the process (including CU members), and to provide a framework or vision for how a cooperative regulator performs in the 21st century.
Filson, who was a senior executive at NCUA under Ed Callahan in the early 1980s, continues to press hard for greater transparency from NCUA, especially around management of assets the agency assumed with conservatorship of the five corporates. With the petition drive over Filson has used the site to share his views on where mistakes were made in the takeover of Arrowhead Credit Union, why regulating financial cooperatives is different from banking regulation, and to publish an "Agenda for Cooperative Regulatory Leadership in the 21st century."
Filson remains hopeful he will be considered for the NCUA seat currently held by Michael Fryzel and that the White House and Congress will see NCUA and the institutions it regulates are unique.
"It's not just another political patronage job," Filson said.
