CUNA President and CEO Dan Mica released the following statement today upon receiving a copy of a letter sent by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Consumers Union to FDIC Chairman Donald E. Powell. In the letter, the two consumer groups note their incomprehension over the FDIC chairman addressing credit union taxation, which they call "an issue that seems unrelated to your role as a federal regulator and insurer of the U.S. banking system and would in fact work to the detriment of one important component of that system."

A PDF of the letter is here; Mica's statement follows:

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We are appreciative of the support of the consumer groups' - Consumer Federation America and Consumers Union - for maintaining the credit union tax status. Consumers get it: Credit unions' tax status lies in their structure as not-for-profit and cooperatively owned financial institutions, which are democratically controlled and provide affordable, quality financial services. The banks that Mr. Powell supervises may say that a "level playing field" is at issue, but we continue to maintain that a level playing field makes sense only if the game is between players of the same species. It is quite clear that credit unions and banks are different - and that the playing field is already level enough, although perhaps tilted toward the banks.