Several new articles spotlighted ICBA’s renewed call for policymakers to require federal credit unions to file Form 990s like nearly all other tax-exempt organizations amid a credit union embezzlement scandal in Mississippi.
Coverage: American Banker (subscription required), the Credit Union Times, CU Daily, and Tyfone reported on ICBA’s renewed push, which follows an alleged $95 million fraud at Jackson Area Federal Credit Union in Mississippi.
ICBA View: In a national news release last week, ICBA said requiring federal credit unions to file Form 990s could have helped expose the alleged fraud in a timely fashion, citing ICBA’s repeated warnings of the dangers of allowing tax-exempt credit unions to operate with lax oversight and limited transparency.
ICBA Advocacy: Responding to the Treasury Department’s Form 990 Transparency Initiative,
ICBA recently told Treasury that federal credit unions should be required to file Form 990s—in line with ICBA’s repeated calls for Congress to do so. ICBA has long said requiring federal credit unions to file the annual information return required of nearly all tax-exempt organizations would promote transparency and public accountability.
Administration Scrutiny: The Treasury Department in April announced that the IRS plans to revise Form 990 requirements to improve transparency related to tax-exempt organizations.