Increased clarity in its guidance to its examiners and more consistency in its examination practices are a key supervisory focus of the National Credit Union Administration this year, said NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz in a Letter to Federally Insured Credit Unions released Thursday.

“As a regulator and insurer, NCUA’s goal is a strong, safe credit union system. To that end, NCUA continues to incorporate lessons learned and feedback from credit unions into our examination approach,” Matz said to open her letter to credit union directors and CEOs.

The Credit Union National Association often has encouraged the NCUA to provide this “increased clarity” on its examination process and called the NCUA supervisory focus a positive development.

Areas in which NCUA will strive to enhance the clarity of examiners include member business lending (MBL), credit rating, and troubled debt restructurings (TDRs).

Matz said credit unions can expect a supervisory letter to add clarity to the process and expectations for MBL rule waiver requests. The letter will address, in particular, waivers for personal guarantees and blanket waivers versus individual loan waivers for aspects of the MBL rule. The guidance will also focus on appropriate underwriting and credit monitoring systems for MBLs, Matz said.

The agency also will issue follow-on guidance for examiners and credit unions on complying with the final rule, required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, replacing the use of credit ratings with alternative standards to assess the creditworthiness of securities and money-market instruments.

Also, based on the final NCUA rule on TDRs, the NCUA will provide additional guidance for examiners on examining for compliance with the rule’s requirements and the credit union’s accounting practices related to TDRs.

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