WASHINGTON (11/18/13) — The Credit National Association is setting the record straight on the issue of credit union CEO vs. bank CEO compensation after the American Banker cited a statistic that is “misleading,” said CUNA.

Among like-sized institutions, credit union CEO compensation is in line with that of banks CEOs. But when bank CEOs’ opportunities to gain bank stock grants or stock options are taken into account, credit union executives’ compensation is much lower, according to CUNA’s 2011-2012 CEO Total Compensation Survey.

CUNA economists estimate that the CEO of a bank with more than $100 million in assets earns 42% more total compensation than the CEO of a similar-sized credit union, when stock grants and stock options–adjusted for asset size differences–are considered.

A Nov. 13 item in the Banker titled “Banks Trail Credit Unions In Exec Pay, Loan Growth, Political Clout” cited an Enetrix study that claimed the median base salary of credit union CEOs is higher than that of bank CEOs. The Banker failed to note the study’s fine print on page 14:  that payout from bonuses and stock options, which are far more valuable than base salary, are not available to credit union CEOs, since they are member-owned cooperatives.

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