A request by the $1.2 billion-assets Dade County Federal Credit Union for a community charter expansion to add Broward County to its field of membership (FOM) is slated for an online public hearing June 7 and out for public comment until May 10, according to a notice scheduled March 27 in the Federal Register.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), in its notice, says the expansion would allow the credit union to serve an area with a population of 4,624,664 people. The hearing is required under a rule change in 2018, which calls for notice and public hearing when a federal credit union is seeking a community charter for an area with multiple political jurisdictions with a population of 2.5 million people or more.
Dade County FCU, which has the agency’s low-income designation, had 100,707 members as of Dec. 31. Its current field of membership encompasses Miami-Dade County; it is asking to add Broward County because, the notice states, “its current community is an inhibitor to current and future growth as it regularly turns away would- be members from nearby neighboring Broward County who are not eligible to join through their current field of membership.”
The credit union must show that its proposed field of membership (FOM) is a “well-defined local” community.
The NCUA said its June 7 hearing will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern via WebEx, and those wishing to present their views have until noon May 10 to register to be included on a list of presenters. The hearing will last no more than four hours, it said, with interested parties making presentations of no more than 30 minutes each.
Up to eight presenters, including the applicant, will be allowed; the first six other interested parties to contact the NCUA in writing will be permitted to make presentations. The agency said the eighth slot will be reserved by the agency’s Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion (CURE), which has the discretion to designate as eligible for a presentation by an interested party.
The notice states that prospective presenters have until May 10 to submit their written presentations; written comments from the public are due the same day. (See the notice for more details.)
The NCUA said it will make a determination on Dade County FCU’s application no sooner than 30 calendar days after the date of the public hearing.