There was "no conspiracy" among Western Corporate Federal Credit Union executives to "make the numbers look better than they were", said Robert Burrell, former chief investment officer at the seized WesCorp.
Burrell declined to discuss the matter in detail, saying "a battle with the NCUA isn't productive for credit unions", and that he hopes credit unions will instead focus on how to gain market share as a result of Wall Street's losses.
However, the 12-year WesCorp veteran called his investment reporting "very transparent" and said WesCorp's portfolio was "constantly scrutinized" by the NCUA's in-house examiner, and outside audit firms.
Burrell stressed what NCUA Executive Director David Marquis said during the agency's March 23 Webinar discussing WesCorp and U.S. Central FCU's March 20 conservatorships: a small difference of methodology in modeling can result in big variations, given the size of investment portfolios.
Burrell said of the difference in WesCorp and NCUA's numbers, that as a regulator charged with safeguarding the industry, it's understandable why NCUA would tend toward the most conservative estimates.
"Everybody wants to be reasonable, and that's certainly what the folks at WesCorp tried to do," he said.
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