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April 28, 2014 – NCUA Board Member Michael Fryzel, nearing the end of his time at NCUA, told NAFCU Today on Friday that he is grateful to have had the opportunity to serve and that he sees a bright future ahead for the credit union industry.

Fryzel joined the NCUA Board as its chairman in August 2008, just as the corporate crisis was heating up. He led the agency through the creation of the Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund and, following the transition to a new administration, participated in the promulgation and adoption of new rules for the corporates and more.

He said working on the corporate issue has been "the keynote of my five-and-a-half years" at NCUA. He is credited by Congress and Treasury for helping prevent a collapse of the credit union system.

On Friday, Fryzel talked about a number of things – the future of credit unions, the impact of growing regulation and his view that regulators should step back a bit and let credit unions run themselves.

He said he expects to see continued consolidation in the industry, but he thinks the industry will continue to get stronger and that membership will continue to grow. "People are still joining credit unions every day," he said.

The NCUA Board' s Republican member has been outspoken on some of the current rules being promulgated. He was the lone dissenter in the board's issuance of a proposed rule that would phase out home-based credit unions, and he voted against last week's adoption of a final rule on capital planning and stress testing.

During Thursday's board meeting, Fryzel said there was no good reason not to allow more time to improve the stress-test rule. He reiterated that Friday and expressed a similar sentiment about the question of more time for comments on the risk-based capital proposal.

"It hurts no one to give more time," he said, adding that he supports extending the comment period on risk-based capital, which currently ends May 28. "We are not in a crisis situation."

He said he plans to remain on the board until his successor, Obama administration nominee Mark McWatters, is confirmed by the Senate. That could keep Fryzel on the board close to or through the agency's next open board meeting, slated for May 22.

Meanwhile, he says he is just grateful that President Bush nominated him to the chairmanship when he did, and for the work he has been able to do under the current administration. Serving on the NCUA Board "has been a great experience for me."