Reform...

Mr. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana - September 6, 2005:

"Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot.  Give me a caring idiot.  Give me a sensitive idiot.  Just don't give me the same idiot."

Y'know...

Adding A New Wing On The House?

Swerving toward a disaster...?

Appears the deck chairs will once again be reshuffled over at the NCYA.  Evidently moving "the same old furniture" around a bit is considered "an act of creativity" by the higher ups in Alexandria....... 

The Agency on July 26, 2012 announced:  "We are reorganizing our existing resources" to create an Office of National Examinations and Supervision" ('da "ONES").  The "new" group will be responsible for the examination and supervision of credit unions with assets in excess of $10 billion and will also dump the surviving Corporates into the mix for logical consistency.  


Having the same "existing resources" which "helped out" with the Corporates focusing on them, must be terribly reassuring to those larger asset credit unions.  Same resources, same leadership, same expertise, same attitude, same people....same results?  Guess I would go with Einstein's answer to that question: "The definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results."


The NCYA Media Release announcing the change brims with absurdity, but using the Agency's own arguments that 1)"those with more than $1 billion in assets hold 47 percent of industry assets" and 2) larger CUs need more focus, "more attention where more of the industry's risk is held" then... there is one other positive alternative which must be permitted:


"All credit unions with $1 billion+ in assets shall be given a choice between deposit insurance coverage by the NCYA or the FDIC."


Clearly it's time to recognize the current limited expertise available at the NCYA and the greater existing expertise available at the FDIC.  Choice, particularly for state-chartered CU's, could 1) simplify the federal interface with the CFPB;  2) reduce the risk to all CU's from the Corporate exposure; 3) reduce the cost of overall NCYA regulation to smaller CU's; and 4) enable NCYA to refocus its efforts on preserving, enhancing, and re-energizing smaller CU's - where the NCYA's existing expertise lies. 

LET'S GIVE CREDIT UNIONS A CHOICE: NCYA OR THE FDIC?

Before we....   

Battle of Wits....

"Too often... we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

Regulatory Complex....

"Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

- George Santayana

SO....

Troubling Thoughts....

The NCUA Board Met 7/24/2012:

Q: Since we now have a proposed, new definition of a "troubled condition credit union", how would one go about defining a "Troubled Condition Agency"?

( See below....)

NCUA National Planning... A $67 Value!

Q:  Do you know what's going on?

NCUA:  Yes.

Q:  Do you need any help?

NCUA:  No.

Q:  Do you have a plan?

NCUA:  Yes.

Here's the plan...

It's A Small World After All....

Conference Center....

Let's flog this horse one more time and then let it go - whaddayasay?  The topic of course is the now infamous NCUA National Training Conference held last Spring at a Disney theme park resort hotel.  NCUA's senior executive leadership has repeatedly pointed out the high value of the conference, their diligent cost consciousness in planning and execution of the meeting, and the dire need for the training given that "new examiners make up nearly 33 percent of our field staff." 

"The 33%..."

Most credit unions can readily attest to the high percentage of novices on "the NCUA team" these days and concur with the obvious need for training.  Some would suggest that the training should be done before "the 33%" is deployed to manage credit unions; but with the rapidly shrinking number of credit unions in the U.S. (losing about 300 per year) the immediate, urgent need for hundreds of additional, untrained examiners is clear.

"M - I - C!.. K - E - Y!..  M - O -..."

Perhaps while appearing a bit too, uncomfortably defensive; NCUA did publish a "budget analysis" of the conference in a May 10, 2012 NCUA Media Release interestingly titled "NCUA Implements New Supervision Manual and Consistent Exam Standards".  And, NCUA made it very clear that the overall cost of the conference ($2,424,221) was brought in "under budget"($2,505,157).  The "savings" of $80,936 is assumed to have been achieved through that hasty, last-minute cancellation of the group cocktail party - an unfortunately sobering thought....

Pearl...

"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."

- Tallulah Bankhead

From The Field...

"The transition to a new manager has gone very smoothly; we have turned over the reigns of leadership..."

(A crowning achievement...!)

Pearl...

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.  In practice, there is."

- Yogi Berra

one + one = twe

(These days, in practice, credit unions are besieged by "robust" theoretical foolishnessness.)

No Way Out...

Is there a town in the U.S. named "Next Exit"?

If so, what does the exit ramp sign on the interstate highway say?

From The Field....

Debt consolidation loan request:


"I'm a single Mom - it's just me and my husband out here trying to make ends meet, so...."


(Any chance you have children, too...?)

Exams To Enter Digital Age....

The first significant enhancement arising out of the - soon to be completed - "NCUA Listening Tour" is a major investment by the Agency in new electronic technology for all examiners.  


The new digital devices will be issued this Fall to all exam team members following a week long national training session scheduled for the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park in October.


A spokesman for the Agency said: "This new advanced technology keeps us on the "leading edge" in exam performance. You told us how to improve and we listened...."

Leadership: Defining Purpose

"What more can I do?"

(Yep, about sums it up...)

From The Field....

"May was all about community service.  Once again we paired the blood drive with a bake sale..."


(...vampire brownies?!?)

This Years Exam Team...

Fresh out of Disney.....

..... and ready to roll!

From The Field...

"We have a terrific new employee - young, smart, wise beyond his ears..."

( Hear, hear !!)

The Duty of Leadership...

To uphold your end of the bargain.

(At work, ..... and in life!)

The Real Peter Principle

"Any idiot can be a Vice-President!"

- Tom Peters

....or CEO !
(I speak from experience...)

A Case Of Mistaken Identity?

The view from Alexandria:

A "Lion" Agency.... R-O-A-R-R-R!!!!

"Protecting credit unions and the consumers who own them through effective regulation."

And.....

Declaration of ......

 

GO FOURTH HAPPY !!

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
                        
 - motto on Thomas Jefferson's seal (1776)

Lone Sharks?....

Q:  Why are Wall Street "b-worders" never attacked by sharks at the beach?