NCUA Inspector General William DeSarno told House Oversight andGovernment Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in a Feb. 6 letter that amounts paid toattorneys working under contingency contracts on securities fraudsuits are reasonable and are not unnecessarily high.

The agency's Office of the Inspector General reached theconclusion based upon an independent review of costs; however, thehighly redacted report shields that information from the federallyinsured credit unions that are repaying corporate losses throughassessments.

Those legal costs are subtracted from settlement amountsreceived from the suits, which are attempting to recover lossesthat resulted from securities sold by investment banks to corporatecredit unions.