CUNA has set up groups to help the trade association formulate its positions on two issues that are affecting many credit unions: the proposed NCUA rule on field of membership and the agency's policies on mergers.
The association hasn't finalized the members of its task force on field of membership, but it plans to work quickly so they can respond to the NCUA rule, for which comments must be filed by March 1.
CUNA Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Mary Mitchell Dunn said the group is concerned about "the definition of a rural area and also what is meant by an underserved area."
Under the proposed rule, for purposes of whether to grant a community charter, a well-defined local community would have to have 2.5 million or fewer people and have a core area containing 50% of the jobs and 33% of the population. It defines a rural district as a contiguous area in which more than 50% of the population lives in areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as rural and the area's population doesn't exceed 100,000 people.
Dunn said CUNA is concerned that the NCUA's merger process is insufficiently transparent and the agency doesn't do enough to let credit unions know about merger opportunities.
The task force members are: Carrie Birkhofer, president/CEO Bay Federal Credit Union, Capitola, Calif.; Gary Clark, president/CEO Missoula Federal Credit Union, Missoula, Mont.; Roger Heacock, president/CEO Black Hills Federal Credit Union, Rapid City, S.D.; Frederick Healey, president/CEO Workers Credit Union, Fitchburg, Mass.; John Murphy, president/CEO Maine Credit Union League; and Marcus Schaefer president/CEO Truliant Federal Credit Union, Winston-?Salem, N.C.
