Newsroom

September 10, 2013

Fryzel recalls financial crisis, corporate debacle

Sept. 11, 2013 – NCUA Board Member Michael Fryzel said Tuesday that credit unions have successfully weathered many challenges in recent years – the financial downturn and corporate credit union crisis not least among them – and urged them to seek to make the industry even better.

"We are at a point in the credit union movement where we can coast, where we can go along with what has been passed to us, a successful system enjoyed by 95 million Americans," Fryzel said during Tuesday's general session at NAFCU's Congressional Caucus. "Or we can say now is the time to make a leap, to bring democratically run, self-help, non-profit cooperative financial institutions to 200 million Americans."

Fryzel said that kind of reach will require "vision, investment, and inconvenience." He said credit unions will need to "make sure that everyone understands what cooperative credit unions are," the work they do and what they mean to the economy.

Confirmed to the NCUA Board in July 2008, Fryzel opened his Caucus remarks Tuesday by reflecting on the challenges facing the industry when he first joined the agency. He served as chairman for his first year, a period that saw the onset of NCUA's corporate credit union stabilization and resolution programs and congressional action on an increase in the federal share and deposit insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000.

Fryzel's term concluded Aug. 2, but he is authorized to continue to serve until a successor is confirmed.