WASHINGTON–The Credit Union Risk-Based Capital Study Act of 2015 has been introduced in Congress. The bill would require NCUA to study and report to Congress on whether the agency has the clear legal authority to issue a two-tier proposal, how RBC2 compares to bank capital requirements, the rationale behind the risk-weighting used by the agency and the impact the proposal will have on credit unions’ capital cushions. The agency would not be able to finalize or implement RBC2 before 120 days after the report goes to Congress.
The legislation has the strong backing of the credit union trade associations, which have challenged various components as well as the entire concept of NCUA’s revised risk-based capital proposal. The comment period on the revised proposal ended in April after receiving more than 2,000 comment letters.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Stephen Fincher (R-TN), Bill Posey (R-FL), and Denny Heck D-WA).
"NAFCU applauds Representatives Fincher, Posey and Heck for their work in putting together a bipartisan response to this issue,” said NAFCU CEO Dan Berger. “We appreciate the congressmen’s recognition of RBC2 as a serious and potentially troublesome proposal and their efforts to prevent the growth of excessive regulatory burden on an already well-capitalized industry.”
NASCUS CEO Lucy Ito issued a statement saying, "Taking additional time on this proposal does have merit. Changes made by NCUA to its current version of the proposal were significant improvements over the original and we acknowledge that. Still, further refinement of the proposal will help ensure that it is right-sized for the credit union system and does not place credit unions at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace. Taking time to stop and study, as the Study Act proposes, provides an opportunity to affirm regulatory right-sizing.”