Over the last couple of years, a small coalition of credit unions has built up the background and the foot soldiers to help maneuver supplemental capital legislation through Congress. 

One can see where this could have been viewed by the trade associations as predatory to their business, but it's absolutely not, according to The Coalition for Credit Union Access. The group has worked very hard, and wisely I would add, to build consensus among the trades, credit unions and the regulators on what the legislation to allow credit unions to count supplemental capital toward net worth should look like and what it would mean for credit unions.

Building consensus around supplemental capital has taken some doing, as the trades (at one time) and individual credit unions had different views on what form it should take. "It's tricky. We were pleased the planets aligned," explained BECU Senior Vice President Parker Cann.