NEW YORK — One of the messages Clifford Rosenthal, CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) had for Michael Fryzel, the new Chairman of the NCUA was that the agency needs to make chartering new credit unions a higher priority.

"We have been distressed by the inordinate difficulty and length of time required to incubate new credit unions," Rosenthal explained. "The typical time is three years, and the number of new charters on average has been less than ten a year. That's not especially healthy for a credit union movement that is experiencing increased consolidation."

To help speed the process, Rosenthal suggested making new credit union chartering a higher priority for the agency; centralizing the review process in NCUA's main office, with a designated specialist assigned to supervise chartering, in order to ensure more efficient, higher-quality, and consistent review; and exploring new and existing means to facilitate the capitalization of start-up credit unions.