Over the past 10 years, not once has a credit union won anexam appeal heard by the NCUA's Supervisory ReviewCommittee.

According to statistics released by the agency, prompted by aFreedom of Information Act request by Credit Union Times,the NCUA SRC has heard just four appeals since Jan. 1, 2002, and none ruled in the creditunion's favor.

The central exam issues of the four appeals included CAMEL codeassignments and loan classification.

Credit unions fared better on the regional level, but still onlyprevailed 27% of the time. Since Jan. 1, 2007, regional SRCs haveheard 48 appeals related to exam disputes. Of those, 13 were ruledin the credit union's favor, the agency said.

In addition to CAMEL code assignment and loan classificationdisputes, exam issues at the regional level included documents ofresolution, allowance for loan and lease losses, and wordingchanges in the exam.

NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz hassaid in letters to trade associations and during ListeningSessions that the agency encourages credit unions to use thefour-step exam appeals process if they disagree with examfindings.

If discussions with the examiner and supervisory examiner areunsuccessful, credit unions can elevate the matter to the regionaldirector, and further to the national SRC, a three-person panelcomposed of senior NCUA executives.

“Surprisingly, few credit unions actually avail themselves ofthis fourth step in the appeals process,” Matz wrote in an April 17letter to CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney.

That letter was in response to HR 3461, the FinancialInstitutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act, which wouldrequire examiners to cite authority for exam exceptions.