PORTLAND, Maine — Although NCUA's rules and disclosureregulations governing the process of converting from a credit unionto bank charter draw the most attention, they are hardly the onlyregulatory hurdles many CUs considering making the change face,according to a leading consultant in the process.

Alan Theriault, CEO of CU Financial Services, a leadingconsultant in CU to bank charter conversions, said that the firmpays special attention to any issues with the Bank Secrecy Act,knowledge of loans that a CU might have on its books that otherbank regulators might consider “subprime” and any loans from the CUto executives or board members when advising a CU about a possibleconversion.

“BSA regulations are nothing new of course and apply to bothcredit unions and banks,” Theriault observed, “but it seems thatcredit unions are a bit behind other financial institutions when itcomes to implementing them completely.”