Cooper v. Department of Banking

720 A.2d 832, 1998 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 868
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 19, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 720 A.2d 832 (Cooper v. Department of Banking) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cooper v. Department of Banking, 720 A.2d 832, 1998 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 868 (Pa. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

COLINS, President Judge.

William Cooper petitions for review of the Secretary of Banking’s order that permanently removed Cooper from his position on the credit committee of the Boeing Helicopters Credit Union (Credit Union) and prohibited him from participation in any manner in the affairs of the Credit Union.

The facts in this case are undisputed. In December 1995, the Department of Banking notified Cooper that he was temporarily suspended from his position as chairman of the Credit Union’s credit committee pending a hearing to determine whether Cooper should be permanently removed for breach of fiduciary duty. The notice charged Cooper with engaging in unsafe and unsound financial practices that carry the potential for financial loss, that prejudiced the Credit Union’s interests, and that exhibited a disregard for the Credit Union’s financial soundness. The notice declared the Department’s intention to seek Cooper’s removal from office and to prohibit him from all further participation in the affairs of the Credit Union.

The practices underlying Cooper’s suspension came to light as a result of risk management audits conducted by CUNA Mutual Insurance Group. CUNA reported its results to the Department of Banking as well as to the Credit Union’s board of directors. In November 1994 CUNA notified Cooper that it was terminating his bond coverage as a result of the loan approval practices that placed the Credit Union at increased risk. In May 1995, after Cooper lost an appeal of the termination of his bond eligibility, CUNA offered to reinstate the, Credit Union’s full bond eligibility if credit committee members were terminated; in the alternative, it offered to reinstate the bond eligibility of the credit committee members by imposing a $5,000-per-loan deductible for any losses involving loans approved in violation of the Credit Union’s policies and procedures. The Credit Union chose the second alternative, which required the approval of state and federal regulators. In September 1995, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) notified the Department of Banking that the $5,000-per-loan deductible violated the maximum permitted by NCUA regulation. The letter explained that the NCUA would forgo administrative action against the credit committee members in exchange for their resignations and written agreements that they would never again serve as officials, employees, consultants, or agents of the Credit Union.

After a hearing, at which the parties stipulated to the salient facts, the hearing examiner concluded that Cooper failed to conduct the loan approval process of the credit committee in accordance with the Credit Union’s by-laws and failed to observe statutory loan procedures as set forth in the Credit Union Code, 17 Pa.C.S. § 713, and that Cooper’s conduct had jeopardized the Credit Union’s regulatory certification. Specifically, Cooper approved loans without convening the committee and without obtaining the required majority approval; on numerous occasions Cooper independently approved loans using the forged signatures of two other committee members.1 The hearing examiner recommended that Cooper be permanently removed from the credit committee.

Cooper filed a brief on exceptions to the hearing examiner’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in which he objected to the recommendation to the extent that it failed to set forth the parameters of his removal. Cooper requested that the recommendation be amended to reflect that he was to be removed only from service on the credit committee. The Department opposed the exception, stating that the law permits permanent [834]*834removal of Cooper from all participation in the Credit Union’s affairs. The Secretary of Banking adopted the hearing examiner’s findings and conclusions and addressed the issues raised by way of exceptions. The Secretary found that Cooper had notice that the Department was seeking to prohibit him from all participation in Credit Union affairs. The Secretary concluded that 17 Pa.C.S. § 503(a) gives the Department broad authority to regulate credit unions and to protect their members, and upheld the Department’s interpretation of 17 Pa.C.S. § 503(b) as authorizing Cooper’s permanent removal from the Credit Union’s affairs.

On appeal, Cooper raises the same issues that he raised by way of exceptions: 1) whether 17 Pa.C.S. § 503 authorizes the Department of Banking to remove a committee member from all participation in a credit union’s affairs, and 2) whether the Secretary’s order prohibiting all participation in the Credit Union’s affairs violated his due process rights under the state and federal constitutions.

The Credit Union Code places credit unions under the supervision of the Department of Banking. 17 Pa.C.S. § 503 addresses regulation of credit unions, in pertinent part,

(a) General Rule. — Credit unions shall be under the supervision of the Department of Banking. The department is hereby authorized and empowered to issue general rules and regulations and specific orders for the protection of members of credit unions, for insuring the conduct of the business of credit unions on a safe and sound basis and for the effective enforcement of this title....
(b) Suspension of personnel. — If, in the opinion of the department, a director, officer or committee member of a credit union has committed a violation of a statute, regulation or cease and desist order which has become final or has engaged in an unsafe or unsound practice involving the credit union or has breached a fiduciary duty and if the department determines that the credit union has suffered or will suffer substantial financial loss or other damage or that the interests of its members could be seriously prejudiced by reason of the violation, practice or breach, the department may suspend the director, officer or committee member upon written notice, pending a hearing to determine whether removal is required.

17 Pa.C.S. § 503(a) and (b).

Cooper argues that the Secretary’s authority under 17 Pa.C.S. § 503(b) is limited. Cooper reasons that because subsection (b) refers to a director, officer, or committee member of a credit union, it permits removal of personnel only from those enumerated positions. Cooper characterizes subsection (a) as granting the Secretary the authority to regulate credit unions, as separate and distinct from subsection (b), which Cooper sees as a grant of authority to regulate the individuals who run credit unions. Cooper also urges that 17 Pa.C.S. § 503 be strictly construed under principles of statutory construction applicable to punitive statutes.

We find Cooper’s arguments without merit. The Secretary correctly concluded that 17 Pa.C.S. § 503(a) gives the Department of Banking broad authority to regulate and supervise credit unions. More specifically it authorizes the Department to issue “specific orders” to protect credit union members, to ensure that credit unions engage in sound business practices, and to effectively enforce the provisions of the Credit Union Code. Subsection (a) alone gives the Secretary the authority to order Cooper’s removal from his position on the credit committee and to prohibit him from participation in all other affairs of the Credit Union.

Subsection (b) does not in any way limit the Department’s authority to regulate and supervise credit unions.

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Bluebook (online)
720 A.2d 832, 1998 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cooper-v-department-of-banking-pacommwct-1998.