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Thomas seeks to extend info gathering to state CUs

WASHINGTON (3/31/06)—House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) is requesting that state credit union regulators collect data about credit unions in their state similar to the information currently being gathered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for federal credit unions.

Thomas sent a letter to the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) reminding the group that his panel has been conducting oversight hearings "examining the justification for the tax-exempt status of certain type of entities," such as credit unions.

The California Republican requested that the state supervisors survey a representative sample of credit unions in their respective states seeking information in the following areas: membership, executive compensation, credit union service organizations (CUSOs), and unrelated business income tax (UBIT).

Specifically, the chairman requested that the state regulators provide the following information:

• The number of state credit unions, total assets, and members by charter type in each state;

• Also on a state-by-state basis, the extent to which providing service to low- and modest-income consumers is an explicit or implicit part of the chartering requirement for credit unions;

• For state credit unions that do not file individual Form 990 for their executives, specific numbers on executive compensation;

• Amounts invested in CUSOs, a listing of each CUSO a credit union invests in, a list of services obtained, and the annual amount of income derived from their CUSO investments and their percentage of total net income in the last five years;

• Assets of each CUSO on a state-by-state basis, the most common services used by customers in the last five years, the number and percentage of members and nonmembers that used a CUSO in that period, and the amount of revenue they generate; and,

• The number of credit unions that paid UBIT, the amounts of UBIT paid, and the services on which UBIT was paid, including any UBIT paid as a result of income generated from CUSO activities.

NASCUS said Thursday it will be holding teleconferences with state regulators to discuss the data request.

"NASCUS is committed to addressing the issues raised by the House Ways and Means Committee," said NASCUS President and CEO Mary Martha Fortney. "NASCUS will certainly cooperate with the committee as we have cooperated with Congress in the past."