NCUA Executive Director David Marquis and officials of otherfinancial regulators are set to testify at next Wednesday's Househearing on a bill that would give financial institutions the chanceto appeal the results of their examinations to an independentombudsman.

Marquis will be testifying on a panel with officials of theFederal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Comptroller of the Currency.

The NCUA has so far declined to state its position on themeasure.

Both CUNA and NAFCU support it.

West Virginia Credit Union League President/CEO Ken Watts istestifying on behalf of CUNA and JetStream FCU President/CEOJeanne Kucey is doing so on behalf of NAFCU. Her Miami Lakes,Fla., credit union has assets of $125 million

There will also be representatives of the ABA and theIndependent Community Bankers of America.

The hearing is being held by the House Financial ServicesCommittee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and ConsumerCredit. 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 that is unhappy with theresults of its examination would have the right to appeal it to anadministrative law judge who would submit his or her findings tothe ombudsman of the Federal Financial Institutions ExaminationCouncil, which is made up of representatives of federal and stateregulatory entities.

NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz is the council's current chairman.

The bill requires federal financial regulators to produceexamination reports within 60 days of an examination's completion.In addition, if the financial institution wants it, the agency mustinclude an appendix to the report listing all the facts that wereused as a basis for the conclusions.