In Brief: NCUA Won't Publish Preliminary Data

The National Credit Union Administration will no longer release preliminary call report data to trade groups, analysts, and other data subscribers.

The NCUA is ending its customary practice because in February Veribanc Inc. issued a news release detailing extensive unrealized losses in the industry from declines in the value of collateralized mortgage obligations.

After the release was issued, the NCUA claimed errors in the data exaggerated the CMO losses. Nevertheless, the Wakefield, Mass., rating firm's data were picked up by several newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal.

"After the release of the December 1994 preliminary call report data, it came to our attention that the preliminary data was being used inappropriately," a March 31 letter from NCUA director of examination and insurance David M. Marquis stated. "The consequences of this inappropriate action negatively impacted the NCUA and the credit union industry as a whole. As a result, the NCUA has decided that preliminary data tapes will no longer be provided."

Warren Heller, Veribanc's research director, said the agency's decision makes sense if it must extensively edit the preliminary data. But, he added, the rating firm plans to compare the two sets of 1994 data to see how rife the agency's revisions are.

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