The new board of Maleny Credit Union will review its strategic plan and remain open to the prospect of a merger with another credit union, the new chair of MCU, Luke Berry, says.Newly elected to the board of MCU Limited at the annual general meeting on Saturday, Berry shares the board table with only one continuing director from the credit union after the remainder of the board elected to step down at the AGM.The former board advocated a merger with Credit Union Australia, though members voted that proposal down in June.MCU has assets of around A$60 million and around 5000 members, mostly in the Sunshine Coast hinterland of south-east Queensland.For the outgoing directors of MCU, the rationale for a merger with a larger credit union remains unchanged.Alan Harrington, the outgoing chair of MCU, wrote in the annual report that "the banking regulator changed our financial goal posts. In short, MCU's weak capital position needed to be increased and the only way to do this was through increased profits."Of successful measures over 2009 and 2010 to increase those profits, "through prudent growth and with due consideration to risk management and costs, and at the same time remaining competitive", Harrington wrote, "it was not considered viable by the board in the medium term."Harrington also noted that "the banking regulator's capital targets would continue to be increased for small credit unions at appropriate times in the future with the objective of getting MCU's capital position up to industry benchmarks and beyond."Luke Berry, the new chair, acknowledged yesterday that "the issues do remain".He said he interpreted the members' vote three months ago to mean "they'd like MCU to stand alone" and they wanted evidence that the directors and management had considered all the options before pressing the merger button."We'll get out there and investigate all options. If there has to be a merger, there has to be a merger."For now though, the priority is a review of strategy, and addressing short-term issues, including the efficiency of the new core banking system, and lifting deposit levels.