PayThink

I have, in just the past year alone, won the British National Lottery twice, inherited enormous sums of money from relatives at least two forests removed from my own family tree, and, like many of you, been the fortunate recipient of the generosity of an African prince/government official who just needs a small downpayment in order to share with me the millions of dollars/Euros that await me.

Given the stressed economic environment, the failure of some financial institutions and the troubled mortgage market, it is natural that policymakers are reassessing the nation's regulatory structure in an attempt to prevent future crises.

Editor's note: this letter is in response to previous letters to the editor about the size of CUNA CEO Dan Mica's salary and an NCUA proposal to make all credit union CEOs' salaries public record.

I understand if you have chosen to quit opening the newspaper. Overall net membership growth is declining. Net interest margins are not covering operating expenses. CEO and board leadership is in transition. The economy is bordering on recession. Interest rates are fluctuating daily. For many, the housing market has gone south. Fuel and food prices are rising faster than our raises and pundits are forecasting a gloomy picture for this election year into 2009.

OK, so apparently there is one more item you should add to the verboten list of things you shouldn’t bring up at dinner or among polite company. In addition to sex, politics and religion, add financial institution “examinations” and “examiners.”

In response to Frank Diekmann’s column in the July 21 issue, the new sheriff, Michael Fryzel, needs to clean up Dodge City and, as Mr. Diekmann implied, his own deputies. The NCUA became complacent and turned its focus away from safety and soundness to a myriad of other things, including The Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives, Access Across America and the Bank Secrecy Act. In the meantime the examination process failed to detect and prevent credit union failures, prompt corrective action failed and the problem resolution process turned problem credit unions into disasters.

I read with great interest Frank Diekmann’s editorial in the July 21 issue on NCUA and the current losses being experienced in the NCUSIF. A couple of items to note:

Today’s investors are caught in a battle between rising inflation and a slowing economy, translating into a debate over whether interest rates will be moving lower or higher in the near future. The variables continue to change daily, but one factor has been constant–the rising price of oil.

Here we are again beginning to think about planning for next year. Now that we know the NCUA examiners will be asking to review our “Strategic Plan,” it may be time to put a bit of extra effort into our standing document this year.

I take it all back. It’s officially retracted. Like the White House when forced to release documents, I’m “redacting” it; any future reproductions of that previous column are to be published only with all the text marked over in heavy, black marker.