The message carried in the Twin Cities media over the summer may have been "Lenders Gone Wild" but conditions are relatively stable in Minnesota compared to the rest of the country, state lawmakers were told this week during a special one-day hearing on credit union and bank oversight.

Testifying before the hearing, conducted by the Senate Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee, were executives from the Minnesota Credit Union Network, NCUA, FDIC, banker groups and state regulators.

"Just like others elsewhere, we do have our share of rising delinquencies and charge-offs and I commend the committee for doing the right thing and holding this kind of hearing, but speaking for Minnesota credit unions, I think the data shows our problems are not as severe as Florida, Arizona or California," declared William Raker, president/CEO of US FCU of Burnsville.

CU net worth ratios for Minnesota CUs as of June 30 are at 10,19% compared to 10.03% for the rest of the country, said Raker noting also CU charge-offs at are 0.98 as compared to 1.15 in the U.S.

The Tuesday hearing conducted by its chairwoman, Sen. Linda Scheid (DFL-Brooklyn Park), was called to look into CU/bank safety-soundness and the possible need for higher levels of regulation and examination triggered by the news reports.

In a statement the Minnesota Network stressed that "testimony at the hearing carried the same underlying theme--additional regulation would likely be burdensome and unnecessary."