It would be a major breakthrough on a potentially explosive issue - if it were true.

But the two sides remain at an impasse, with the credit unions still unsatisfied with the banks' concessions, and the banks unwilling to go further.

"It's posturing," said Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, who has been brokering negotiations between the two parties and plans to continue the talks.

If an agreement isn't struck, credit union officials have threatened to take the question to voters through a ballot initiative.

Currently the nonprofit financial institutions can get either a state charter or a federal charter.

Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association, said the credit unions came in wanting state and federal rules to match. That's what bankers agreed to, he said, and now credit unions are "moving the goalposts."

"We're not going to agree to a charter that's better than the federal charter. We agreed to full parity . . . That's what they've been up here arguing for years," Headlee said. "If they want to take advantage of our good faith efforts to make this work, that would be very unfortunate."

Banks are making three concessions that allow a state-chartered credit union's ability to make larger loans, particularly to businesses. But the sides are stuck on two points: The bankers want to limit credit union membership to people in a single geographic area or distinct group - a workplace, for example. Credit unions want both. And the credit unions also don't like the banks' demand that the credit unions lock into either the state or federal charter for five years.