WASHINGTON- NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker wrote a letterto House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommitteechairman prior to his subcommittee's hearing on deposit insurancereform legislation supporting separate but equal treatment forcredit unions. In his letter to Congressman Spencer Bachus(R-Ala.), Becker noted that the Federal Deposit Insurance ReformAct of 2005 (H.R. 1185) would maintain a separate insurance fundfor credit unions, a key reason NAFCU was formed. “We believe thatthe differences between the NCUSIF and the BIF and SAIF fundswarrant and justify a separate insurance fund for credit unions,and we do not support any efforts to consolidate the NCUSIF withthe other insurance funds,” he wrote. He pointed to credit unions'1% deposit and 1.2% to 1.3% equity fund ratio range. “Like thecredit unions whose accounts it insures, the NCUSIF is itselfcooperative in nature,” Becker wrote. “Unlike BIF and SAIF, both ofwhich were initially funded with taxpayer dollars from the UnitedStates Treasury as seed-money, every dollar that has gone into theNCUSIF since its inception has come solely from the credit unionsit insures. Credit union members throughout the country arejustifiably proud of the fact that the NCUSIF has never been adrain on the American taxpayer.” Becker also clarified that whilethe bill includes an insurance coverage increase to $130,000 peraccount for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and theNational Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, NAFCU is not seeking ageneral increase in the overall level of deposit insurancecoverage; the trade association simply wants parity for the NCUSIFand the new fund created by merging the Bank and SavingsAssociation Insurance Funds. H.R. 1185 would merge the Bank andSavings Association Insurance Funds, create a reserve ratio rangefor the FDIC, and provide for an insurance coverage increase to$130,000 per account, among other things. A copy of the letter wasalso sent to Financial Institutions and Consumer CreditSubcommittee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)[email protected]