March 19, 2013 – NCUA on Monday received certification of the vote tally on members’ approval of the proposed conversion of HarborOne CU of Brockton, Mass., to a state-chartered mutual cooperative bank and is due to reply with its own determination in about a month.
Under NCUA rules, the agency’s regional director must approve or disapprove of the methods and procedures used in carrying out a federally insured credit union membership vote on conversion to a mutual savings bank charter. The regional director generally has 30 days to do this but can ask for more time if needed. An appeal by the credit union and the NCUA Board’s consideration of that appeal can add another 120 days, or about four months, to the process.
According to HarborOne, nearly 62 percent of voting members favored the proposal to convert. More than 22,433 of the institution’s members voted. (Total membership is 139,078, based on latest data available on NCUA’s website.)
NCUA rules provide that an insured credit union’s proposed conversion to an MSB charter can be approved by a simple majority of members who vote on the proposal. If the NCUA regional director approves, the credit union must complete the conversion in a timely manner.
HarborOne CU serves consumers and business members who live or work in Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth and Barnstable counties. It said it will continue to operate as a credit union until the closing of the charter change transaction.
Last year, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz was quoted by the Boston Globe saying conversion wasn’t likely to benefit the credit union’s members.