OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Credit Union League and the five credit unions that had requested the state Division of Credit Unions consider permitting private primary deposit insurance have now asked for a stay.

The league individually and the credit unions jointly have requested that the rulemaking process be temporarily halted in the interest of legislation changes and clarification. "While this process has been thorough and deliberative, we have come to the regrettable conclusion that legislative changes must be made to the statute under interpretation in order to produce a rule that both protects consumers and provides a reasonable framework for the operation of non-federal share insurance in Washington," the league's letter, signed by Senior Vice President and General Counsel Stacy Augustine, read.

Signing onto the credit union letter with essentially the same message were SHARE Credit Union, Prevail Credit Union, School Employees' Credit Union of Washington, Seattle Credit Union Center, and Harborstone Credit Union. "Therefore, we would respectfully request that the Department temporarily suspend the CR101 process so we can work with your staff to determine the statutory changes needed to provide DFI with the appropriate mechanism from which to reasonably evaluate an alternative share insurer," it read.