New England’s second largest credit union, the $1.9 billion HarborOne Credit Union of Brockton, Mass., is formally moving ahead with a conversion to a mutual savings bank following a vote of its board on Wednesday night.
In a formal statement Thursday, the suburban Boston CU said it “voted unanimously to begin the process of applying for a cooperative bank charter.”
The statement stressed the “approval to proceed is one first step in a long process and charter change must be approved by a vote of our members.”
HarborOne said the CU is “entering a ‘regulatory dark period’ and we will have no further comment.”
The statement was issued by James Rice, senior vice president of marketing.
The HarborOne release did not say when a vote of the membership might be taken or address member reaction during the comment period which ended March 16.
The planned conversion of 140,000-member HarborOne was a top behind-the-scenes subject among attendees at CUNA’s annual Governmental Affairs Conference which concluded its week-long conference Wednesday night.
James Blake, president/CEO of HarborOne, had long taken an active part in GAC proceedings in his role as a former chairman of the Massachusetts Credit Union League and a former CUNA director.
HarborOne has since resigned both organizations.
