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NAFCU-backed reg relief bills slated for review today

WASHINGTON, DC (October 11, 2017) — The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) on Tuesday lodged support for several regulatory relief bills slated for mark-up today by the House Financial Services Committee, including measures related to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act improvements (H.R. 2954) and tailoring of regulations to limit burdens on affected institutions (H.R. 1116).

“We appreciate the Committee’s continued efforts to provide regulatory relief and create an environment in which credit unions can thrive,” wrote NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler.

The mark-up of 23 bills, in total, begins at 10 a.m. Eastern today. Thaler detailed in his letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., 10 bills NAFCU is watching and how they would help credit unions.

The Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk (TAILOR) Act of 2017 (H.R. 1116) would ensure that the NCUA, CFPB and other regulators do not use a one-size-fits-all approach to rulemaking. Thaler also expressed support for an expected managers amendment on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act (H.R. 2954), a bill that would ease the compliance burden for credit unions by exempting depository institutions that have originated fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit and 500 closed-end mortgages in the previous two years from HMDA’s reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The amendment would align the bill with bipartisan legislation pending in the Senate.

Thaler also noted NAFCU’s support for:

the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2017 (H.R. 1699), which would modify the definitions of a mortgage originator and a high-cost mortgage to ensure that consumers of small-balance mortgage loans, including manufactured housing loans, will have access to credit;
the Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act (H.R. 2396), which would make a technical correction to update the exception for certain annual notices provided by financial institutions;
the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 2706), which would require federal regulators to provide a material reason for ordering financial institutions to terminate account relationships;
the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Examination and Reporting Threshold Act of 2017 (H.R. 3072), which would provide relief to credit unions by amending the threshold asset size of institutions subject to CFPB examining and reporting requirements from $10 billion to $50 billion;
the Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017 (H.R. 3299), which would amend the Federal Credit Union Act to provide that federal interest rate preemption applies “regardless of whether the loan is subsequently sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred to a third party,” including a non-bank purchaser;
the Senior Safe Act of 2017 (H.R. 3758), which would improve safeguards for seniors;
the Protecting Advice for Small Savers Act of 2017 (H.R. 3857), which would replace the Department of Labor’s “fiduciary rule” with a best-interest standard for broker-dealers; and
the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 (H.R. 3971), which would amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide a legal safe harbor from escrow requirements for smaller financial institutions, under $25 billion in assets that hold loans in portfolio for three years.

For a full text of the letter, please click here.

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.