National Credit Union Administration board member Rick Metsger recently was appointed to be the ninth chairman of the NCUA board by President Barack Obama. Metsger succeeds previous board chairman Debbie Matz, whose tenure ended April 30.
“I deeply appreciate the trust President Obama has placed in me, and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead as the agency strives to protect credit union members and provide a modern regulatory framework for credit unions to innovate and grow safely and soundly,” Metsger said in a news release. “NCUA has a hard-working staff dedicated to the agency’s mission, and I am proud to serve with them.”
Metsger joined the NCUA board in August 2013, and was appointed the board’s vice chairman in September 2014.
“I look forward to working with Rick to bring true regulatory relief to the credit union community while protecting the safety and soundness of the Share Insurance Fund,” board member J. Mark McWatters said in the release.
During his tenure as vice chairman, Metsger has focused on modernizing regulations and the federal credit union charter to provide credit unions with greater flexibility to innovate and grow as well as regulatory relief, according to the release. Metsger led the agency’s efforts to update its regulations concerning fixed assets and credit unions’ fields-of-membership regulation.
Jim Nussle, president of the Credit Union National Association, praised the appointment in a statement posted on the CUNA website, citing Metsger’s “thoughtful leadership and levelheaded decision-making” as NCUA vice chairman.
“On behalf of America’s credit unions and the 105 million members we represent, we congratulate Rick on his new role, and we look forward to continuing our work alongside him and the rest of the NCUA board,” Nussle said in the statement. “The important work we’ve started together, such as updating field-of-membership rules and improving on the examination process — measures that will only strengthen the operating environment for credit unions — must continue.”
Metsger has worked in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining NCUA’s board, Metsger served in the Oregon state senate from 1999 until 2011, and was elected senate president pro tempore in 2009. During his tenure in the senate, he was chief sponsor of legislation the state enacted to expand fields of membership for state-chartered credit unions.
A former teacher and broadcast journalist, Metsger also was a board member of the Portland Teachers Credit Union for eight years, rising to the position of vice chairman.
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