California Department of Financial Institutions Receives Re-accreditation from NASCUS

SACRAMENTO – Department of Financial Institutions Commissioner Donald R. Meyer today announced that the Department has received its certificate of accreditation from the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS). The Credit Union Division of the California Department of Financial Institutions met the standards for accreditation and received an extension of its accredited status for one year.

The Board of Directors and the Performance Standards Committee of NASCUS concluded that DFI continues to meet criteria necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibility to charter, examine, supervise and regulate the credit unions chartered under the laws of the State of California.

The Department was first accredited in 1999, and currently supervises 216 credit unions with total assets of approximately $35.8 billion.

The Mission of NASCUS is to enhance state credit union supervision and to be an advocate for a safe and sound state credit union system. The NASCUS Accreditation department is designed to strengthen state credit union regulatory departments; obtain the support necessary to operate a competently run, safe and sound regulatory program; and foster continuity in the supervision of state chartered credit unions. There are currently 25 state credit union regulatory agencies that have obtained the honor of being accredited states.

The Department of Financial Institutions is responsible for regulating the safety and soundness of California’s state-chartered financial institutions, including state-licensed banks, state-licensed savings and loans, trust companies, state-licensed offices of foreign banks, issuers of travelers checks and payment instruments (money orders), transmitters of money abroad, state-licensed credit unions, and state-licensed industrial banks. DFI reports to Secretary Maria Contreras-Sweet of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and Governor Gray Davis.