Press
CUNA urges congress for regulatory relief
House Testimony Focuses on Privately Insured CUs, “Rural” Designation, and Duplicative Financial Regs
Washington DC (December 4, 2014) — Today, Rose Bartolomucci president and chief executive officer of Towpath Credit Union in Akron, Ohio, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services on behalf of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) to advocate for regulatory relief for credit unions.
Bartolomucci’s testimony focused on three aspects of relief including:
- Authorizing privately insured credit unions to become members of a Federal Home Loan Bank,
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act, and
- Directing federal financial regulators to address duplicative or inconsistent rules
Excerpts From Bartolomucci’s testimony:
Authorizing Privately Insured Credit Unions to Become Members of a Federal Home Loan Bank
“CUNA supports H.R. 3584, bi-partisan legislation introduced by Representatives Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), which would allow state-chartered, privately insured credit unions, to apply for membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank System…”
“It has never seemed fair to our small institutions that some of the largest banks in the world, or insurance companies (which are not federally insured), or a foreign bank’s U.S. subsidiary can borrow billions of dollars from the Federal Home Loan Bank System, but teachers in Ohio and Texas, firefighters in California, postal and county workers in Illinois and farmers in Indiana cannot. We think passing H.R. 3584 would be a just result to remedy this inequity… “
“Can these privately insured credit unions engage in riskier activities than federally insured institutions? No. Is there a risk to the Federal Home Loan Bank System from this legislation? No…”
“Will this change cause a significant number of credit unions to switch from federal to private insurance? No.”
CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act
“CUNA supports H.R. 2672, introduced by Representative Andy Barr (R-Ky), the CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act. This legislation would direct the CFPB to establish an application process determining whether a county should be designated as a rural area if the CFPB has not designated it as one…”
“The concern CUNA has with the definition in the current rule is that many credit unions make loans to those in rural communities, but the credit union itself may not be based in those communities. If the definition of “rural” does not change, these institutions will be limited in the types of products they can offer their members in these areas.”
Directing Federal Financial Regulators to Address Duplicative or Inconsistent Rules
“For those operating community based financial institutions, the crisis of creeping complexity with respect to regulatory burden is very real.”
“Small credit unions are expected to comply as quickly and efficiently as large financial institutions with hoards of compliance officers. While the elimination of one duplicative rule or regulation may not seem like much, to a compliance officer in a credit union, it is. Without one more rule to comply with that employee can now spend time with a credit union member, helping to serve their financial needs.”
For a full transcript of Bartolomucci’s testimony contact bfishel@cuna.com