Press

Secondary Capital Working Group webpage now available

ALEXANDRIA, VA (May 6, 2015) — As part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to increase access to secondary capital for low-income credit unions and provide appropriate regulatory relief to all credit unions, the National Credit Union Administration announced today the availability of a Secondary Capital Working Group webpage.

“For years I have heard from credit unions around the country about the need for supplemental capital, and increasing access to it is a top priority of NCUA’s regulatory relief efforts,” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. “This webpage will be valuable resource for stakeholders who are interested in helping to shape our efforts to increase access. I encourage credit unions to provide us with their suggestions.”

Chairman Matz announced the creation of the internal Secondary Capital Working Group in December 2014. The working group is focused on:

Increasing opportunities for low-income designated credit unions to access secondary capital;
Examining how supplemental capital may be used to satisfy NCUA’s proposed risk-based capital rule; and
Exploring potential legislative means to increase access to supplemental capital for all credit unions.

The working group achieved its first goal in April by completing updates to NCUA’s National Supervision Policy Manual that made secondary capital more attractive to investors and streamlined the approval process for both federally chartered and state-chartered low-income credit unions.

The working group’s webpage is available here. NCUA also has created a dedicated email, SCWG@ncua.gov, to make it easier for stakeholders to submit suggestions.

NCUA is the independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the United States, NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 99 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions. At MyCreditUnion.gov and Pocket Cents, NCUA also educates the public on consumer protection and financial literacy issues.