Press
Nevada’s Federally Insured Credit Unions Return to NCUA’s Region V
Alignment Change Signals a Return to “Normal” and Improves NCUA Efficiency
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Dec. 19, 2012) – The National Credit Union Administration today announced that supervision of Nevada’s 12 federally insured credit unions will return to the agency’s Region V office from Region I effective Jan. 1, 2013.
“During the Great Recession, NCUA had to take prudent steps to rebalance workload and enhance oversight to protect Nevada’s federally insured credit unions and their nearly 192,000 members,” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. “The return in supervision of Nevada’s federally insured credit unions to Region V is a step toward normalizing our regional operations.”
With an economy tied to real estate, construction and tourism, Nevada was especially vulnerable to the most recent recession. The state’s unemployment rate nearly tripled, and as people lost jobs, loan delinquencies increased. However, the delinquency ratio for Nevada’s credit unions fell to 2.47 percent in September of this year, down from 6.42 percent in March 2009. Charge-offs dropped from a peak of 4.50 percent in March 2010 to 2.32 percent this past September.
Matz added, “This change will also improve NCUA’s efficiency by cutting travel costs and ensuring that the supervision staff is closer to Nevada. The agency is appreciative of the hard work performed by Region I staff in supervising Nevada’s federally insured credit unions, which involved many weeks on the road and away from their homes and families.”
Headed by Regional Director Elizabeth Whitehead, NCUA’s Region V office is located in Tempe, Ariz.
Oversight of Nevada’s federally insured credit unions has been part of the responsibilities of NCUA’s Region I, based in Albany, N.Y., since early 2009. To balance agency workload demands and ensure effective oversight in several western states exceptionally hard hit by the Great Recession, NCUA temporarily transferred supervision of some states away from Region V to other regions. The shift in resources was part of a comprehensive response by NCUA to the financial crisis.
NCUA is the independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of nearly 94 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.