TAMPA, Fla. — The two Tampa appointees to what is thought to be the lone credit union director's slot in the Federal Reserve System were speaking out last week on the need for a higher CU profile in the nation's central bank. "This is the best kept secret," declared Wendell "Bucky" Sebastian, president of the $2.1 billion GTE Federal Credit Union, referring to the Fed selecting him as one of seven directors of the Jacksonville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. It was understood there may be one or two credit union CEOs who sit on advisory panels of district Fed banks or branches, but the Atlanta Fed by tradition is believed to be the only one that has a full-time CEO as one of its branch directors

"I believe Fed banks should be going out of their way to select credit union people when you consider a huge portion of financial services away from money center jurisdiction has now fallen into the hands of credit unions," said Sebastian, who was officially named to the Jacksonville job in November.

His appointment was formally announced by the Atlanta Fed last week.