The NCUA told Credit Union Times Thursday it cannotshow its hand by releasing the net amount of the JPMorgan Chasesettlement that was applied to the corporate stabilizationfund.

“When you are playing high-stakes poker against the mostpowerful, deep-pocketed financial interests in the country– with billions of dollars at stake – you don't show thecards in your hand. Any strategic information we share wouldgive our opponents a competitive advantage at the negotiatingtable,” said NCUA General Counsel Mike McKenna.

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“Revealing any legal strategy would only hurt, not help, NCUA'sefforts to maximize recoveries for credit unions,” McKennacontinued.

McKenna said the NCUA's strategy up to this point has producedrecoveries totaling $1.75 billion.

“As a result, credit unions are much less likely to be chargedany more corporate stabilization assessment,” he said.

McKenna suggested that the net amount could be disclosed in thefuture.

“When all the litigation is finally concluded – and that couldtake years – then it will become a different issue in terms ofdisclosure. At that point there will be no harm in disclosing ourcontractual arrangements,” he said.

In October of 2012, Rep. Darrell Issa challenged the NCUA's contingency arrangementswith two law firms, the Washington-based Kellogg Huber and theChicago-based Korein Tillery. Issa claimed the NCUA had violated anexecutive order prohibiting federal agencies from theagreements.

In an Oct. 16 letter to then-NCUA Inspector General WilliamDeSarno, Issa said the agreements stated the firms would collect 25% of all claimsrecovered from the bank plaintiffs. Law firms had received morethan $40 million from $170 million in settlements with Citigroup,Deutsche Bank Securities and HSBC at the time. The $127.25 millionbalance was applied to the corporate stabilization fund.

In February 2013, DeSarno told Issa the NCUA was acting as aconservator and not a government agency when it pursued the damagesin court.

DeSarno, who retired from the NCUA June 1, 2013, called the 25%contingency agreement reasonable. If the 25% contingency feearrangement still applies, law firms would receive as much as $350million from the JPMorgan settlement.

Despite the NCUA's $1 billion repayment to Treasury in December2013, the agency must still refund $2.9 billion in outstandingTreasury borrowings before any remaining Stabilization Funddistributions can be made to credit unions legally. The agency saidany potential repayment to credit unions is not likely to occurbefore the expiration of the Stabilization Fund in 2021.