The Office of General Counsel has responsibility for all legal matters affecting NCUA, including: representing the agency in litigation; bringing enforcement actions against directors, managers and other parties affiliated with credit unions; providing interpretations of the Federal Credit Union Act and NCUA Rules and Regulations to the agency and to outside parties; processing Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals; advising the Board and the agency on general legal matters; and drafting regulations designed to ensure the safety and soundness of credit unions.
General Counsel – Michael McKenna
As General Counsel, Michael J. McKenna has the responsibility for managing all legal matters affecting NCUA. McKenna serves as the principal legal advisor to the NCUA Board and as the agency’s ethics officer. He also supervises the provision of legal advice within the agency, including interpretations of the Federal Credit Union Act, NCUA’s rules and regulations, and other directives. McKenna further oversees the development of many of the agency’s regulations affecting credit unions and the representation of the agency in legal proceedings.
McKenna joined NCUA in 1989 as an attorney. After rising within NCUA’s Office of General Counsel, he served details as Senior Policy Advisor for two NCUA Board Members in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, McKenna became NCUA’s Deputy Executive Director, and at the end of 2004 he was named Deputy General Counsel. McKenna became NCUA’s General Counsel in 2011.
Prior to joining NCUA, McKenna served as Staff Judge Advocate for the U.S. Army at Fort Hood, Texas, where he focused on criminal prosecutions from 1986 to 1988. Mike then served as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command in Falls Church, VA.
McKenna earned a B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and received his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C. He is married to the wonderful Dawn McKenna and has three daughters.