Mark McWatters, nominee for the NCUA board, said the possibleoverregulation of small credit unions and risk-based capitalrequirements are two of the greatest challenges facing creditunions that he wants to examine further.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) had askedMcWatters at the March 13 confirmation hearing what opportunitiesand challenges he sees for credit unions.

“I think the greatest opportunity for credit unions is tocontinue what they’re doing now – 96 million Americans in creditunions – they’re growing, and their loan base is growing,”McWatters told the panel. “One opportunity is particularly forlow-income credit unions to expand their mandate to those Americanswho are under-banked and unbanked. There's opportunity there. Thosefolks need financial services and they need financial services at areasonable rate.”