NASCUS PRESIDENT & CEO LUCY ITO ON THE JULY NCUA BOARD MEETING

July 30, 2020

NASCUS PRESIDENT & CEO LUCY ITO ON THE JULY NCUA BOARD MEETING

ARLINGTON, Va. – Today, the NCUA Board held another public meeting via live audio webcast due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the meeting, the NCUA Board approved 60-day comment periods for proposed rules on Transitions to CECL Methodology and Fees Paid By Federal Credit Unions. The Board also approved a 60-day comment period for the Overhead Transfer Rate and Operating Fee Methodologies and approved a final rule on Field of Membership. The Board was briefed on the 2020 Mid-Session Budget as well.

During the meeting, Board Member Harper also indicated that the banking industry should not object to the NCUA Field of Membership Rule but instead target state field of membership provisions.

NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito issued the following statements in response to today’s meeting.

On NCUA’s Transitions to CECL Methodology proposed rule:
“We are pleased that NCUA is joining the other Federal Banking Agencies in taking action to mitigate the adverse effects that the adoption of the current expected credit loss (CECL) accounting methodology will have on the capital ratios of credit unions. We will closely examine the proposed rule to check for any conflicts with state laws and regulations and to recommend any improvements to ensure reasonable implementation of CECL for federally insured state-chartered credit unions.”

On the NCUA Overhead Transfer Rate and Operating Fee Methodologies:
“We commend the NCUA Board for the more transparent and fairer approach to determining the Overhead Transfer Rate (OTR) that has been in place since 2017.  As Board Member McWatters noted, there is always room for improvement and we look forward to sharing our perspectives with the agency to ensure the OTR is calculated in an equitable fashion.”

On Board Member Harper’s comments regarding state field of membership provisions:
“We strongly reject Board Member Harper’s suggestion that bankers target state field of membership provisions. State supervisory agencies have taken great care to ensure that credit unions in their states have the appropriate fields of membership to adequately serve their members. We have long asserted that the healthy competition of a strong dual charter system is beneficial to both federal and state-chartered credit unions and the final passage of NCUA’s Field of Membership Rule is a step in that direction.  As the insurer of state-chartered credit unions, it is inappropriate for an NCUA board member to suggest attacks of any kind on either state-chartered credit unions or state credit union regulators.  We are gravely disappointed that Mr. Harper chose to ignore his responsibility as the federal insurer of credit unions to treat both federal and state-chartered credit unions in a neutral and unbiased manner.”

 

Information Contact:
Shelton Roulhac, Vice President, Communications, sroulhac@nascus.org or (703) 528-5974

NASCUS is the national association that advocates for a strong and healthy state credit union system, and whose members include state regulatory agencies, credit unions, credit union leagues, and organizations that support the state credit union system.