David Marquis, the director of the agency's office of examination and insurance, said there were 15 credit unions designated as CAMEL Code 5, compared with 12 at the end of 2007. There were six credit union failures during the first six months of 2008, and 12 during all of 2007.

Marquis said while the agency has tried to avoid increasing premiums for the fund during slow economic periods, his staff would monitor the revenues and payouts closely and "continue to evaluate the situation closely throughout the year."

He added that in response to the large number of calls about deposit insurance as a result of some bank troubles, the agency has made changes to its Web site (www.ncua.gov) to make information about the fund more accessible.

In a unanimous vote, the board approved granting a community charter to Horizon One Federal Credit Union, Indianapolis. The credit union will continue to be allowed to seek members in Marion County (where Indianapolis is located) and will be able to seek members in Johnson County, a growing suburban county to the south.

Horizon One told the agency it is seeking to expand its member base to take advantage of population growth, especially a burgeoning Hispanic community.

In the wake of last week's court decision in ABA vs. NCUA, in which a federal judge criticized NCUA's community charter approval process in an earlier case, several of the board members asked detailed questions of officials in the agency's Atlanta office, which handled the application.

"What factors weighed against the application?" asked Board Member Gigi Hyland.

"I didn't see there were any compelling reasons against granting its proposal," said Alonzo A.

Swann III, the director of the NCUA's regional office in Atlanta.

Also at the meeting, the board voted to open a 60-day comment period on changes to the accounting rules for mergers.

The board is accepting input on its language for implementing changes approved by Congress in 2005 that clarified the definition of a credit union's net worth during a merger for purposes of prompt corrective action. The law allows merging credit unions to count the retained earnings of both institution's toward the continuing institution's net worth.

The board also gave final approval to the rules how a credit union can obtain a waiver from the Federal Credit Union Act's prohibition against hiring persons who have been convicted of a crime of breach of trust or honesty.

While the rule does not contain specific crimes covered under the statutory prohibition, it does contain "de minimis" offenses, for which approval is automatically granted. It also mandates additional requirements for credit unions, such as establishing an applicant screening process to ensure that they find out all relevant information about "any convictions or pretrial diversion programs."

The board also approved changing the agency's seal to have an eagle at its center with three stars–representing its three board members–above the eagle.

The staff report on the issue said the seal needed to be changed because there is considerable confusion about whether the agency is a public or private entity.

The current seal, which contains a roof and a door at its center, "is too vague to be meaningful to all but a few with knowledge of the history of the seal," the report said.

Any seal change must be designated by the president through an executive order.

Thursday's meeting was the last one at which NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson was scheduled to preside. Michael E. Fryzel, who was confirmed by the Senate last month to take her place, is scheduled to be sworn in later this week.

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