NCUA Chair Touts "Deregulation Project"
"We don’t run credit unions. When we give credit unions the flexibility to operate as they see fit, without sacrificing safety and soundness, they’re better able to meet member needs."
Kyle S. Hauptman, NCUA Chair
"We don’t run credit unions. When we give credit unions the flexibility to operate as they see fit, without sacrificing safety and soundness, they’re better able to meet member needs."
Kyle S. Hauptman, NCUA Chair
National Credit Union Administration ("NCUA") Chair Kyle Hauptman highlighted progress on the agency's "Deregulatory Project" to identify and address "obsolete, duplicative, overly burdensome, or guidance-suitable regulations."
In remarks before the NCUA Board, Mr. Hauptman said the NCUA should not tell credit unions how to run their business absent material risk. He highlighted four final rules issued recently, including:
- Dependent Care and Board Member Reimbursement: NCUA amended regulations on reimbursing federal credit union officials' reasonable expenses, removing barriers to volunteer service and allowing boards to adopt more family-friendly policies.
- Records Preservation Requirements: NCUA revised rules clarifying the regulation's purpose, removing two Appendices, updating definitions, and giving credit unions more flexibility in determining the content of their vital records preservation log.
- Non-Interest Charges and Fees (Interim Final Rule): NCUA clarified federal credit unions' authority to levy non-interest charges and fees (including interchange fees), preempting state laws on the matter and aligning federal credit unions with national banks.
- Prohibition on the Use of Reputation Risk: NCUA issued a rule that would prohibit it from instructing credit unions to close accounts or deny services based on protected class or political views, grounding supervision in data-driven conclusions.
He also noted new proposals to loosen credit union advertising rules ("Accuracy in Advertising") and to drop a limit on the indirect vehicle loans a credit union may buy from one servicer ("Third-Party Servicing of Indirect Vehicle Loans").