Born in New Mexico. Built for Every State.
The SERP'd Act began when a public data analysis of New Mexico credit unions revealed that 15 of 40 active credit unions were holding over $129 million in secret executive retirement insurance, funded entirely by member deposits, without a single disclosure to the member-owners of these institutions. Not one annual meeting presentation. Not one member notification. Not one vote.
The data came from public NCUA 5300 Call Reports. The secret wasn't hard to find. It was just that nobody was looking. Now the whole country needs to look.
The New Mexico Evidence
15 credit unions. $129 million in BOLI/SERP assets. One credit union devoting 24.19% of total assets to executive retirement insurance. Zero member-facing disclosures. This is not speculation. This is public regulatory data. And New Mexico is just one state.
See the full data at NMCreditUnionWatch.org.
The People Who Fund These Organizations Are Kept in the Dark
Across America, organizations that exist because of public trust are hiding how they compensate their executives. Members, donors, volunteers, ratepayers, and beneficiaries pour money, time, and faith into institutions that claim to serve them. Behind closed doors, those same institutions fund secret executive retirement plans worth millions, and the people who made it possible are never told.
1 Donors Kept in the Dark
You write a check to a non-profit because you believe in the mission. You never find out that your donation is helping fund a million-dollar executive retirement plan. No annual report tells you. No fundraising letter mentions it. Your generosity is building executive wealth and you have no idea.
2 Members Kept in the Dark
Credit unions, cooperatives, and mutual organizations call you a "member-owner." Your deposits, premiums, and fees fund the operation. But no one told you that millions in member capital have been diverted into secret executive retirement insurance. You are an owner who owns nothing but the right to not be told.
3 Volunteers Kept in the Dark
You give your time for free because you believe in the cause. You organize events, knock on doors, staff phone banks. Meanwhile, the executives running the organization are building retirement packages funded by the very operation your labor supports. No one asked if you were okay with that.
4 Ratepayers Kept in the Dark
You pay your electric bill because you have no choice. You pay your gas bill because there is no competitor. Board members and executives at regulated monopolies may have massive financial incentives tied to rate increases, asset sales, and mergers. You pay for all of it and you are told none of it.
5 Beneficiaries Kept in the Dark
You are the person the organization claims to serve: the patient, the student, the low-income family, the community member. The organization raises money in your name, applies for grants on your behalf, and tells funders it exists for you. You never find out how much of that funding goes to executive retirement plans instead of to the mission that is supposed to help you.
The SERP'd Act: A National Disclosure Framework
The SERP'd Act is not about banning executive pay. It is a disclosure framework built on one principle: every person who funds, supports, or is served by a public-benefit organization has a right to know how that organization compensates its executives. Members, donors, volunteers, ratepayers, beneficiaries, and the general public deserve full financial transparency from the institutions that depend on them.
This framework is designed to be adopted by any state, any county, any municipality. If an organization asks for your money, your time, your trust, or your vote, you get to see where it goes. All of it. No buried filings. No accounting euphemisms. No fine print.
"If you fund it, you have a right to know. If you volunteer for it, you have a right to know. If you are the person it claims to serve, you have a right to know. No exceptions."
The founding principle of the SERP'd ActWho the Framework Covers
The SERP'd Act applies to every organization that depends on public trust to operate. If you take donations, collect member deposits, charge ratepayers who have no alternative, recruit volunteers, apply for grants in the name of beneficiaries, or market yourself as a public-benefit institution, your executive compensation arrangements are no longer a private matter.
Credit Unions
All state and federally chartered credit unions that ask for volunteers, time donations, and member trust.
Regulated Monopoly Utilities
Electric, gas, water, and telecom monopolies whose ratepayers have no choice but to pay. If the board is getting massive payouts, ratepayers have a right to know before that board votes to sell, merge, or restructure.
Non-Profit Organizations
501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and other tax-exempt entities that accept donations, grants, or public funding.
Electric Cooperatives
Rural electric cooperatives and utility co-ops serving communities across every state.
Public Foundations
Community foundations, educational foundations, and charitable trusts.
Healthcare Non-Profits
Non-profit hospitals, health systems, and clinics operating under tax-exempt status.
Housing Authorities & CDFIs
Community development financial institutions and public housing organizations.
Mutual Aid & Volunteer Orgs
Organizations that rely on volunteer labor while compensating executives with deferred plans.
Publicly Traded Monopolies
Any corporation operating as a de facto monopoly, including energy, water, and telecommunications providers whose customers cannot switch.
Any Public Benefit Entity
Any organization marketing itself as serving the public interest while maintaining undisclosed executive retirement plans.
What the Framework Requires
Public Website Disclosure
Every qualifying organization must publish a clear, plain-language summary of all executive retirement plans, BOLI policies, and deferred compensation arrangements on its public-facing website. Not buried in a PDF. Not hidden behind a login. On the website, accessible to everyone.
Annual Notification to Every Funder and Beneficiary
Organizations must send an annual written notice to every person who funds them: members, donors, ratepayers, volunteers, grant providers, and beneficiaries. The notice must disclose the existence, total value, and funding source of any SERP, BOLI, or deferred executive compensation arrangement. Same channel as your fundraising appeals. Same audience, no excuses.
Annual Meeting Disclosure
At every annual meeting, general assembly, or public board meeting, the organization must present a line-item summary of executive retirement plan costs, including total premiums paid, total cash surrender values, and the percentage of total equity or operating budget committed to these plans.
Full Stakeholder Disclosure Before Adoption
Before entering into any new SERP, BOLI, or deferred executive compensation arrangement, the organization must disclose the proposed plan to every person it claims as a stakeholder: members, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, and the public. Board approval alone is meaningless when the board is the one benefiting. The people kept in the dark are the ones who funded it, and they must be told before a single dollar moves.
Regulatory Filing with the State
All qualifying organizations must file an annual SERP Disclosure Report with the appropriate state regulatory body (the Attorney General's office for non-profits, the state financial institutions division for credit unions and financial cooperatives), listing all executive retirement and insurance arrangements, their costs, and their beneficiaries.
Plain-Language Requirement
All disclosures must be written in plain language at or below a 10th-grade reading level. No legal jargon. No accounting euphemisms. No hiding behind 990 forms and regulatory filings that no normal person reads. If a member, donor, volunteer, or beneficiary cannot understand the disclosure without hiring a financial advisor, it does not meet the standard.
Teeth in the Law: Penalties for Non-Compliance
A disclosure law without enforcement is a suggestion. The SERP'd Act includes escalating penalties to ensure compliance is not optional.
| Violation | Penalty | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to publish website disclosure within 180 days of enactment | $5,000 per month of non-compliance | Level 1 |
| Failure to send annual member/donor notification | $10,000 per occurrence | Level 2 |
| Failure to disclose at annual meeting | $10,000 + mandatory corrective notice to all members | Level 2 |
| Adopting a new SERP/BOLI without disclosure to members, donors, volunteers, and all claimed stakeholders | $50,000 + automatic review by state AG or financial regulator + mandatory disclosure within 30 days | Level 3 |
| Filing false or misleading SERP Disclosure Report | $100,000 + referral for investigation | Level 3 |
| Board vote on sale, merger, or restructuring while executive compensation remains undisclosed | Vote is voidable + $250,000 penalty + mandatory AG and regulatory review + full public disclosure before any new vote | Level 3 |
| Regulated monopoly failing to disclose executive payouts tied to rate increases, acquisitions, or asset sales | $100,000 + automatic regulatory investigation + ratepayer restitution hearing | Level 3 |
| Pattern of willful non-compliance (3+ violations) | Loss of state tax-exempt status for 1 year + executive personal liability | Level 3 |
Key provision: Individual executives who personally benefit from undisclosed SERPs may be held personally liable for the cost of remediation, including full restitution to the organization's members or donors for any premiums paid during the period of non-disclosure.
Monopoly provision: When a regulated monopoly's board votes to sell, merge, or restructure the company, and board members or executives have undisclosed financial incentives tied to that transaction, the vote is voidable. Ratepayers who cannot switch providers deserve to know if the people voting to sell their utility are getting rich from the deal. Full disclosure before any vote. No exceptions.
How This Becomes Law
Expose the Problem
NM Credit Union Watch documented 15 credit unions with $129M+ in undisclosed executive retirement insurance. Public data, public record, zero transparency. The evidence is undeniable.
Go National
Credit Union Watch is expanding the database to all 50 states using NCUA 5300 Call Reports. Every credit union in America files this data. We are extracting it and making it public, state by state, quarter by quarter.
Build a National Coalition
Connecting with advocacy groups, policy researchers, consumer protection organizations, and credit union members in every state who believe in transparency over secrecy.
Draft Model Legislation
Working with policy advocates and legal experts to draft the full text of the SERP'd Act as model legislation that any state can adopt and introduce.
First State Introduction
New Mexico will be the first state to introduce the SERP'd Act. The evidence started here. The law starts here. Other states follow.
Every State. Every Organization. Full Disclosure.
The SERP'd Act becomes the national standard for executive compensation transparency at public-benefit organizations. No more secret plans. No more silent boards. Every funder knows. Every beneficiary knows. Every volunteer knows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a SERP?
A Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan is a deferred compensation arrangement that provides additional retirement benefits to senior executives beyond what is available through standard retirement plans. When funded through Bank-Owned Life Insurance (BOLI), the organization purchases a life insurance policy on the executive, pays the premiums with organizational funds, and the policy grows tax-free. The executive collects the retirement benefit; the organization (and its members, donors, or supporters) bears the cost.
Are SERPs illegal?
No. SERPs are legal financial instruments used widely across the financial industry. The issue is not legality but transparency. When a non-profit organization or member-owned cooperative uses public money to fund executive retirement plans without telling the people who provided that money, it is a breach of trust even if it is technically legal. The SERP'd Act does not ban SERPs. It requires disclosure.
Why start with credit unions?
Because credit unions file public data with the NCUA that includes BOLI/SERP asset values. This makes them the most transparent starting point for documenting the problem. But credit unions are just the beginning. Non-profits, cooperatives, public utilities, and every type of public-benefit organization have the same secrecy problem. The SERP'd Act addresses all of them.
Does this Act ban executive compensation?
No. The SERP'd Act does not cap, limit, or prohibit executive compensation of any kind. It requires one thing: transparency. If an organization wants to fund a million-dollar retirement plan for its CEO, it can. It just has to tell every member, donor, volunteer, ratepayer, and beneficiary who made it possible.
Can any state adopt this?
Yes. The SERP'd Act is designed as model legislation. Any state legislature can adapt and introduce it. The framework is intentionally broad: it applies to any organization that operates under public trust, regardless of state-specific regulations. We are building a toolkit for advocates in every state to use.
How can I help?
Share this page. Contact your state legislator and tell them you support executive compensation disclosure for public-benefit organizations. If you are a credit union member, attend your next annual meeting and ask about 798E assets. If you donate to a non-profit, ask whether the organization maintains any BOLI or SERP arrangements. If you pay a utility bill, ask what executives are getting paid before they vote on rate increases or mergers. Silence is what makes secret plans possible. Your voice is what makes disclosure inevitable.
Support the SERP'd Act
Every state deserves full transparency from the organizations that depend on public trust. Help us build a national movement for executive compensation disclosure. If you fund it, you deserve to know.
Share the SERP'd Act
The more people who know about this, the harder it becomes to ignore. Share this page with anyone who donates, volunteers, pays utility bills, belongs to a credit union, or supports any public-benefit organization. If you fund it, you deserve to know.
Take Action
Use this form to report executive compensation arrangements that should be disclosed, suggest a state representative or senator who needs to hear about the SERP'd Act, sign on as a public supporter, or just get in touch. Every submission goes to a human, not a script.