The NCUA’s 2011 Annual Report, posted Tuesday on the regulator’s website, details an agency and industry steadily recovering from the housing and economic recession.
Sixteen credit unions failed in 2011, compared with 28 in 2010, and total losses associated with the failures dropped 75%, to $55 million from $221 million. As a result, there was no NCUSIF premium for federally insured credit union in 2011.
The NCUSIF ended 2011 with an equity ratio of 1.30%, up two basis points over 2010. The fund’s net position grew 9% during 2011 to $10.8 billion.
Credit unions with CAMEL codes 3, 4 or 5 decreased during 2011, but still remain higher than historical norms, the NCUA said. In 2011, there were 2,150 sub-CAMEL 2 credit unions, compared with 2,192 at 2010 year-end, the report said.
However, the amount of assets of CAMEL code 4 and 5 credit unions dropped by 32%, from $43.4 billion in 2010 to $29.4 billion at year-end 2011. As of Dec. 31, 83% of industry assets were held by CAMEL 1 and 2 credit unions, the agency said.
The NCUA budget for 2011 was $225.4 million, with nearly $128 million allocated to insurance programs and $82.4 million for corporate and natural person exams. The agency budgeted for 1,214 full time workers in 2011, with the majority assigned to insurance and supervision. At year end, the NCUA counted 1,187 full time employees.
The NCUA report said the agency was the first federal financial institutions regulator to successfully recover settlements from Wall Street securities firms that created and sold faulty mortgage-backed securities.
Net proceeds from the $165.5 million legal settlements from Deutsche Bank Securities and Citigroup received in 2011 will reduce the amount of future Stabilization Fund assessments, the agency said in the report.
The NCUA Board approved several new rules in 2011, including new rules for corporate credit unions, increased financial literacy requirements for directors, and new advertising requirements regarding federal deposit insurance.
Credit union membership grew by 1.3 million during 2010, income increased 41.2%, delinquencies and charge-offs fell, and return on average assets climbed 18 basis points to end the year at 68 basis points.
