During the September 18 NCUA Board meeting, an NCUA staffer stated there was no opposition to the expansion of First Service FCU's community charter to eight counties in Columbus, Ohio metropolitan statisitcal area.
According to the official transcript of the meeting, new NCUA Board member J. Mark McWatters asked Leilani Stamper, Consumer Access Analyst for the Office of Consumer Protection: "Is there any opposition to this motion?"
Leilani Stamper replied: "No."
J. Mark McWatters asked: "There’s no opposition?"
Leilani Stamper once again replied: "No."
But how did Leilani Stamper know there was no opposition?
NCUA does not request comments from the public regarding a conversion to a community charter or an expansion of a community charter.
The agency failed to adopt its proposal from 2007 that would have required notice and request for comment for those community charter applications that do not meet the established definitions of a well-defined local community.
The simple fact is that Ms. Stamper cannot know if there was any opposition to this community charter application.
Be careful about what you ask. Credit unions could start opposing banks' requests to open branches which are open to public comment.
ReplyDeleteIf you recall, CUNA filed a letter regarding Zions merger to acquire Amegy.
ReplyDeleteBut my point is that NCUA has no way of knowing if anyone is opposed to the merger. The staffer should have said we don't know. That would have been truthful.
You are smart.
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