December 9, 1997
James A. Salk. Esq.
LoPinto, Schlather, Solomon & Salk
200 East Buffalo Street
P.O. Box 353
Ithaca, New York 14851
Dear Mr. Salk:
You have asked whether Alternatives Federal Credit Union (FCU)
may disclose its NCUA examination report and its CAMEL rating
to a secondary capital investor. It may not.
NCUA's regulations prohibit the release of NCUA examination reports.
12 C.F.R. �2.4(a). A credit union's CAMEL rating is part
of the NCUA examination and, therefore, a credit union is also
prohibited from disclosing it. Even though examination reports,
which contain the CAMEL ratings, are made available to credit
unions for their use, they remain the property of NCUA. 12 C.F.R.
�2.4(b)(1). NCUA examination reports are NCUA records
that are exempt from release under the Freedom of Information
Act. 5 U.S.C. �2(b)(8); 12 C.F.R. �2.(a)(8).
As an alternative, we suggest that the FCU provide its own financial
data to the potential secondary capital investor which, as you
note in your letter, the FCU is free to do.
Sincerely,
Sheila A. Albin
Associate General Counsel
GC/NSW:bhs
SSIC 3500
97-0951