ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The credit union trade associations expressed interest to see what NCUA might propose to update its Field of Membership and Chartering Manual to after the board earlier this month nearly denied a regional director's rejection of two community charter applications.

Cinfed Federal Credit Union and Emery Federal Credit Union were both denied community charters encompassing eight counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana with a population of 1.9 million people by the region at the last NCUA Board meeting. NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland was the only dissenting vote to the regional director's recommendation, though Vice Chairman Rodney Hood was also inclined to approve the community charters, he said there was too much ambiguity. Chairman JoAnn Johnson agreed to ask agency staff to look at clarifying the manual.

"NCUA…will be looking at its chartering manual particularly as it relates to community chartered credit unions with an eye toward making it clear and making it more readily understood within the context of the manual," CUNA Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Mary Dunn explained. "What are the parameters for documentation in filing for an application either to a community charter status or to have an expansion?"