Credit Union Camel Rating List: A Comprehensive Review

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The Credit Union Camel Rating List is a crucial tool for anyone looking to join a credit union. It's a simple way to evaluate a credit union's financial health and stability.

The list rates credit unions from "Dromedary" ( lowest) to "Camel" (highest) based on their net worth ratio, capital ratio, and other financial metrics. A higher rating indicates a more stable credit union.

In general, credit unions with a Camel rating of 2 or higher are considered to be in good financial health.

Camel Rating System

The CAMELS rating system is a widely recognized international rating system used by bank supervisory authorities to evaluate financial institutions. It assesses six key factors: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity.

A CAMELS rating is assigned on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. This rating system helps identify weak banks that pose a risk, allowing them to resolve their issues.

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The acronym CAMELS stands for the six factors that examiners use to rate financial institutions: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity.

Credit unions, as well as banks, are subject to CAMELS ratings, which are used to evaluate their financial condition and risk profile. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) supports the CAMELS rating system and provides training to staff on evaluating the six components.

Here is a breakdown of the CAMELS rating system components:

The NCUA has updated the CAMELS rating system to include a new Sensitivity to Market Risk component, which reflects the exposure of a credit union's current and prospective earnings and economic capital arising from changes in market prices and interest rates.

How Does it Work

The CAMELS rating system is a recognized international rating system that bank supervisory authorities use to rate financial institutions. It's based on six factors: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity.

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Each factor is assigned a score on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. A composite rating is also assigned, which is an average of the six component ratings.

The system helps identify banks that are weak and pose a risk, so they can resolve their issues. Banks with an average score of less than 2 are considered higher-quality institutions, while those with scores greater than 3 are considered less-than-satisfactory institutions.

Here's a breakdown of the CAMELS rating system:

The NCUA supports the CAMELS rating system and provides training to staff on evaluating the six components. Credit unions that are federally insured will receive CAMELS component and composite ratings from the NCUA, starting with examinations and supervision contacts on or after April 1, 2022.

Sensitivity

The CAMELS rating system has a new component called Sensitivity to Market Risk, or "S" for short. This rating reflects the exposure of a credit union's current and prospective earnings and economic capital arising from changes in market prices and interest rates.

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Examiners assess an institution's sensitivity to market risk by monitoring the management of credit concentrations. Specifically, they look at lending to industries like agriculture, medicine, credit cards, and energy.

These loans, as well as exposure to foreign exchange, commodities, equities, and derivatives, are included in rating the sensitivity of a company to market risk. The NCUA has prepared a framework to support the uniform application of CAMELS, which includes training for examiners and credit union staff.

A CAMELS rating of 1 is considered the best, and a rating of 5 is considered the worst. The new "S" component rating reflects the exposure of a credit union's current and prospective earnings and economic capital arising from changes in market prices and interest rates.

The NCUA will make the same training available to staff of state regulators that elect to use the CAMELS rating system. This includes training on evaluating the "S" and "L" CAMELS component ratings and applying the CAMELS rating system.

How Does it Work

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The CAMELS rating system is used to evaluate the performance of financial institutions, including banks and credit unions. It's assigned a score from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating the strongest performance and 5 indicating the weakest.

Each institution is rated on six factors: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity. The acronym CAMELS stands for these six factors.

Banks with an average score of less than 2 are considered high-quality institutions, while those with scores greater than 3 are considered less-than-satisfactory institutions. This means that banks with lower scores are more likely to be subject to more examinations.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) supports the CAMELS rating system and provides training to staff on evaluating the six components. This ensures that credit unions are held to the same standards as banks.

Star ratings, on the other hand, are used to evaluate banks and credit unions based on their financial data. These ratings are based on a variety of factors, including profitability, delinquent loans, and regulatory agreements.

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Here's a breakdown of the star ratings:

The accuracy and completeness of the financial data used to determine star ratings cannot be guaranteed, but the data is compiled from reliable sources, including call reports from federal regulators.

Key Components

The CAMELS rating system is used to evaluate credit unions, and it's based on six key factors: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity. These factors are used to determine the overall health of a credit union.

Capital adequacy is one of the most important factors, and it refers to the credit union's ability to absorb potential losses. A rating of 1 is considered the best, and a rating of 5 is considered the worst.

The CAMELS rating system assigns a score of 1 to 5 for each factor, with 1 indicating the strongest performance and 5 indicating the weakest. Banks that are given an average score of less than 2 are considered to be higher-quality institutions.

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Here are the six factors that are used to rate credit unions:

The CAMELS rating system is used to identify credit unions that are weak and pose a risk, so that they can resolve their issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good camel rating?

A good CAMELS rating is a score of 1, indicating a strong financial institution. A rating of 1 is considered the best, with lower scores indicating potential weaknesses.

Cassandra Bednar

Assigning Editor

Cassandra Bednar serves as an Assigning Editor, overseeing a diverse range of articles that delve into the intricate world of European banking. Her expertise spans cooperative banking, bankers associations, and various European trade associations. Cassandra has a keen interest in historical and contemporary financial institutions, particularly those established in the 1970s.

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