Thomas Requests GAO Study Of Credit Union Regulators.

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Author: Swindell, Bill

Banking

House Ways and Means Chairman Thomas has asked the GAO to review the federal regulator overseeing credit unions to determine whether it has become a cheerleader of the multibillion dollar industry instead of an independent watchdog. Thomas noted his effort in a Wednesday letter to JoAnn Johnson, chairwoman of the National Credit Union Administration. At the request of Thomas, the NCUA is collecting data on whether credit unions are providing public benefits in exchange for their tax-exempt status. On a related path, the GAO has been conducting a similar inquiry. Thomas said he was concerned by recent remarks by a NCUA board member telling credit union officials at a conference how to frame arguments for lawmakers to maintain the industry's tax exempt status. "We do not need cheerleader collecting and analyzing information about whether credit unions are fulfilling the goals of their tax exemption," Thomas wrote Johnson. "I ask that you be mindful of your proper role as an independent and objective regulator of credit unions as move forward with your data collection project."

Johnson replied to Thomas today in a letter that said NCUA takes the data collection request seriously. "You can be assured that every effort is being made to provide the Ways and Means Committee and the GAO with objective and complete information," Johnson wrote. The Bush administration and leading members of Congress have been supportive of maintaining the industry's tax status, despite complaints from banking officials that it provides an unfair advantage over for-profit banks.

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By Bill Swindell