Prompted by the state's bankers, the Kansas Legislature has commissioned an independent committee to review regulatory oversight of Kansas' 98 state-chartered credit unions.
The review of the Kansas Department of Credit Unions was formally requested by the Legislature's Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and is to be conducted by the Post Audit Committee.
It will examine issues such as field of membership, interstate branching, and safety and soundness.
Chuck Stones, the president of the Kansas Bankers Association, said the group pushed for the review as part of an industrywide effort, led by the American Bankers Association, to spotlight credit unions' business practices and regulatory oversight in the states.
He insisted the move was not an attack on credit unions' tax exemption.
"Frankly, I think the credit unions are paranoid and single-minded in what the banking industry might have in mind for them," he said.
Credit union expansion is one concern. Mr. Stones pointed out that Community America Credit Union, though based in Kansas City, Mo., serves the entire state of Kansas.
"I'm not saying Jerel Wright is doing a bad job," he said of the Kansas Department of Credit Unions administrator. "We just want a third-party, independent, unbiased review of the whole situation."
