Capital Briefs: 267 Credit Unions File to Switch Charters

Applications for charter conversions continue to roll in to the National Credit Union Administration.

In the 11 months since a federal appeals court said members of occupation-based federal credit unions must share a single, common bond, 267 institutions have asked regulators for permission to dump the charter.

To date, the NCUA has approved 36 conversions to state charters and 21 conversions to community-based charters. No applications for state charters have been denied, while five requests for community charters have been turned down.

The stream of applications was spurred by the July 30, 1996, decision in the AT&T Family Federal Credit Union case barring 3,600 occupation-based federal credit unions from accepting members from unrelated companies.

Most states allow occupation-based credit unions to serve employees from multiple companies. Community charters cover broad populations, such as all residents in a county.

NCUA has appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which has scheduled oral arguments for Oct. 6.

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