NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- NACUSO is concerned that the Treasury Department's regulatory agency overhaul proposal would not only do away with the credit union model but eliminate the movement's "greatest hedge against unchecked greed."

Guy Messick, general counsel for NACUSO, pointed out that the Treasury proposal summary states that its goal is to eliminate all distinctions in structure and regulations between banks, thrifts and credit unions to "create a level playing field among all types of depository institutions where competition can take place on an economic basis rather than on the basis of regulatory differences."

"Unless banks are eager to become nonprofit entities, we can all guess that it will be the nonprofit cooperative credit unions that will cease to exist," Messick said. "The nonprofit cooperative structure permits a financial institution to serve members without the constant quarterly earnings pressure that inhibits banks from innovation and giving back value to the members."

Bank executives "cannot take the long view," Messick said, because if they do not meet the short term profit goals, "they will be fired."

"This is the very pressure that compelled some banks to make major investments in the sub-prime market and entices them to take other imprudent risks," Messick said. "It is the credit union nonprofit model and the conservative people running credit unions that is the greatest hedge against unchecked greed and Treasury wants to take that distinction away."