West Virginia Credit Union League President/CEO Ken Watts and JetStream FCU President/CEO Jeanne Kucey are scheduled to testify at next Wednesday’s congressional hearing on a bill that would provide an appeals process for financial institutions dissatisfied with the results of their examinations.
Watts is testifying on behalf of CUNA. Kucey, whose Miami Lakes, Fla.-based credit union has assets of $124.5 million, is testifying on behalf of NAFCU.
The hearing is being held by the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and ranking Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) are the lead sponsors of the measure.
Under the bill, a financial institution unhappy with the results of its examination would have the right to appeal it to an administrative law judge who would submit his or her findings to the ombudsman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which is made up of representatives of federal and state regulatory entities. NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz is the FFIEC’s current chairman.
The bill requires federal financial regulators to produce examination reports within 60 days of an examination’s completion. In addition, if the financial institution wants it, the agency must include an appendix to the report listing all the facts that were used as a basis for the conclusions.
Both CUNA and NAFCU have written to Capito and Maloney expressing their support for the measure.
The NCUA hasn’t taken a position on it.
The measure has 66 cosponsors in the 435-member House of Representatives. No companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. next Wednesday.
