Press

ALEXANDRIA, VA (April 17, 2015) – National Credit Union Administration Board Member J. Mark McWatters told credit union leaders from Colorado and Wyoming their ideas are important to his ability to be an effective regulator.

“Listening to the ideas and recommendations of individuals working within the credit union system on a daily basis provides me with invaluable insight on how I may help relieve their regulatory burden and provide greater transparency of the regulatory process at NCUA,” McWatters said. “I have called for hearings on the NCUA budget and for the employment of advisory committees to provide the agency with a common-sense perspective of the credit union community.”

McWatters made his remarks at an event organized by the Mountain West Credit Union Association and hosted by the Denver Community Credit Union in Denver, Colorado. The roundtable format has become the signature method by which McWatters engages with credit union officials to listen to their concerns and provide his philosophy and approach to the smart and transparent regulation of the credit union community without sacrificing the safety and soundness of the Share Insurance Fund.

McWatters and the credit union leaders discussed areas of much-needed regulatory relief for the credit union system, including member-business lending, risk-based capital, supplemental capital, field-of-membership issues, examinations and appeals. He urged his audience to remain focused on the many challenging issues facing the credit union system.

The group also conducted an extended dialogue on the public safety and tax base erosion issues presented by not promptly bringing the cash proceeds generated from cannabis businesses into the financial system. McWatters encouraged NCUA to take the lead in working with the U.S. Justice Department, Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in developing a workable solution to remove the cannabis cash from the streets and into the financial system.

McWatters promised to continue meeting with credit unions across the country in order to achieve a more responsive, efficient, effective and transparent regulatory agency.