Federal Credit Union Act

Statute: 12 USC § 1751 et seq.

Regulation: 12 CFR 700 et seq.

FCUA Purpose: In 1934, the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Credit Union Act, which President Roosevelt signed into law. The purpose of the federal law was to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions. This Act established the federal credit union system and created the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions, the predecessor to the NCUA, to charter and oversee federal credit unions. The general provisions in the Federal Act were based on the Massachusetts Credit Union Act of 1909, and became the basis of many other state credit union laws. Under the provisions of the Federal Credit Union Act, a credit union may be chartered under either federal or state law, a system known as dual chartering, which is still in existence today.