Stamford FCU's Charter Conversion Not UBIT-Related

I am writing this letter to correct the erroneous reporting on our credit union’s conversion to a Federal Charter (CU Times 9/24/03). The article states that our credit union converted to a federal charter to avoid being audited by the Internal Revenue Service for Unrelated Business Income Tax. This statement is false; our conversion to a federal charter does not avoid an audit for the period of time our credit union was under a state charter. Statements made in the article mischaracterize the process that our credit union undergoes when pursuing any strategic initiative. A decision of this magnitude is always a carefully considered and thoroughly evaluated progression closely coordinated between the board and management. The reason(s) for this or any other change in the credit union’s strategic direction are internal and not publicly disseminated. Accordingly, we were dismayed by the assertions made in the article. In particular, and contrary to the article, our conversion went very smoothly, the assumed “turbulence” or “confusion” among the members simply did not exist. We are disappointed with the tenor of this article and trust that we have set the record straight. Raymond F. Dowling CLE CCE President/CEO Stamford FCU Stamford, Conn.