Press

NAFCU applauds, notes wins in U.S. Treasury Department report on improving CU capital rules, CECL standard

WASHINGTON, DC (June 12, 2017) — National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger today applauded a Treasury Department report that is filled with credit union-specific and NAFCU-requested recommendations aimed at helping the industry better serve its members and communities.

Citing NAFCU’s Annual Report on Credit Unions multiple times, the Treasury report recommends a review of credit union capital requirements and the “current expected credit loss” accounting standard. NAFCU was the only credit union trade association directly cited in the report.

“While still reviewing, NAFCU applauds many key portions of Treasury’s report,” said Berger. “NAFCU has met and engaged with the Treasury Department and the White House on multiple occasions during the development of this report and identified meaningful opportunities for regulatory relief that would aid credit unions.

“While there is substantial work that remains ahead, NAFCU looks forward to building off of the groundwork laid by Treasury’s recommendations to strengthen credit unions and the communities they serve,” Berger added.

Among the “wins” for the credit union industry, the Treasury Department recommends:

revising the risk-based capital requirements to only apply to credit unions with total assets in excess of $10 billion or eliminating altogether RBC requirements for credit unions satisfying a 10 percent simple leverage (net worth) test and allowing credit unions subject to RBC requirements to have access to supplemental capital;
ensuring an extended examination cycle of at least 18 months, and extending that relief to institutions above $1 billion in assets;
having the CFPB provide rulemaking or guidance on UDAAP;
reforming the governance of the CFPB, including the possibility of changing the sole director to a bipartisan commission; and
better tailoring of regulations and raising thresholds of their application, including regulations on qualified mortgages.

Today’s report is pursuant to President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System.”

NAFCU will ensure that any regulatory relief package from Congress provides just as much relief for credit unions as banks.

About NAFCU

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally-insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. For more information on NAFCU, go to www.nafcu.org or @NAFCU on Twitter.