FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — NCUA Board member Gigi Hyland revealed that her original career dream was to be an ornithologist but comparative literature and the law eventually won out.
Her talk to NASCUS attendees was titled, "The grand Perhaps," an idea taken from Robert Browning's long poem "Bishop Blougram's Apology." It includes ruminations on "old misgivings and crooked questions," and the line "But friend, we speak of what is; not of what might be, and how 'twere better if 'twere otherwise."
"I admit I'm a comparative literature wonk," said Hyland unabashedly, as she made the seamless connection between poetic possibilities, the realities of credit union regulation and the grand notions that underlie movement philosophy. "Is the credit union model still working? Can credit unions stay member-centric or, is it all just about profits?" she asked. The answers to those and other questions are being sought by her through CU managers and other officials' participation in town hall meetings now being conducted in various cities around the country, she said.
She said the agency was in the midst of a "Herculean struggle about transparency, member rights and concerns over credit union management. We are seeking a balance on all those issues."
Hyland said the agency was closely following the sessions of the House Banking Committee chaired by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on mortgage financing and disclosure requirements. "There was a hearing on HMDA data the other day about making sure that loans are given to women and minorities. What is the role of low income designated credit unions? Another question we're asking is if we should gather information on CEO compensation?"
"NCUA is at a crossroads. We know that we need to get out of the way in order to not impose a regulatory burden that would interfere with credit unions serving their members while trying to provide resources that enables them to do so," she said.
A credit union board needs to take the point of view of the membership, she stressed. A proposed regulation on mergers and how they may benefit the membership is driven by the members' right to full disclosure about possible compensation for senior staff. "We got a lot of negative comments on that and we're looking them over. But the premise is that if a member is to cast a vote on a merger they should know about how the senior staff may gain in the future from that merger," she said.
Another regulation under consideration covers bylaw challenges and just where the responsibility lies for enforcement when state courts bounce the challenge back to the NCUA. "This has had a ping-pong effect, and Chairman Johnson has said that we need to re-regulate the bylaws." Hyland dealt with challenges to the agency on over-reach by noting that the rule's preamble says that only questions of "fundamental material rights" are to be considered, rather than the day-to-day business of running a credit union.
Another "crooked question" she spoke of has to do with charter changes in the community charter application process. "Is there a burden in proving that communities are local and have interaction? Congress (in its law) did not define local and so we have used the Office of Management and Budget definition as a guide. It must relate to a core business of a credit union."
Hyland also covered the sticky issue of members' access to books and records. "Our proposal calls for a petition process where 1% of the membership is required and it must be for a proper purpose; that includes senior level compensation. We're looking now at the comment letters."
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