JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The state Credit Union Commission appointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan and approved by the state Senate as required by the state credit union membership access act, has ruled that a provision in the law limiting size of select employee groups that credit unions can take into their field-of-membership to 3,000 people, applies to community groups as well. The law which was effective Aug. 1998, provides for the commission and the director of the Division of Credit Unions to grant exceptions to groups larger than 3,000 under certain conditions. Cary Greathouse, vice president of information services for the Missouri Credit Union System explained that when the state's credit union membership access bill, H.B. 1323, was drawn up, some state legislators were concerned that the state law would include more liberal field-of-membership provisions than the federal Credit Union Membership Access Act, H.R. 1151. "Our main concern was that state-chartered credit unions should have field-of-membership parity with federal credit unions," said Greathouse. Missouri Credit Union System President/CEO Roshara Holub addressed this concern in a March 8 comment letter to John Smith, director of the credit union commission of the Missouri Division of Credit Unions. Referring to a section of H.B. 1323 that reads, "In the absence of federal law or regulation relating to the size of membership groups, only groups with fewer than 3,000 members are eligible to be included in the credit union's field of membership, unless...", Holub wrote that federal regulations allow federal credit unions to serve communities of up to 300,000 in population. She further reminded Smith that "our law is specific in that the state regulations with regard to membership groups may be no less restrictive than federal law or regulation. State chartered credit unions should have parity with federal charters when it comes to serving communities...The Commission should follow the parameters set forth by federal regulation and recognize the distinction between community area and multiple group expansions." Smith told Credit Union Times he "does not view the 3,000 figure as a cap" because that implies that the 3,000 limit couldn't be exceeded under any circumstance. He noted that since the credit union commission began accepting FOM applications last fall, it has granted exceptions in eight out of eight cases. Greathouse said Smith was "just splitting hairs, it's just semantics." -
ekingoff@cutimes.com
