NCUA General Counsel: Charter Conversions Are About Greed

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – Credit union-to-bank charter conversions are motivated by the credit union leadership's desire for personal financial gain. That is the opinion NCUA General Counsel Robert Fenner shared with attendees at a debate on the issue which was held at the Texas Credit Union League's Leadership Conference and Champion Expo in San Antonio. "Without question, credit unions offer a better deal for consumers than the banking industry," Fenner told the audience. "If a credit union is interested in converting, the one thing we should all seek to answer is why." But Richard Garabedian, a partner with Luse, Gorman, Pomerenk and Schick, a Washington, D.C. law firm which has helped credit unions convert in the past, maintained that there are other worthwhile reasons to seek a new charter, including having lower capital requirements and the ability to make more business loans.