WASHINGTON–The CUNA Small Credit Union Committee has sent a letter to the NCUA board that includes praise for steps taken by the agency to improve efficiencies, but which also reminded that “significant changes to examination and supervision processes are often more burdensome and costly for small credit unions to implement.”
The “pain points” that remain, the Committee said in the letter to NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters and board member Rick Metsger, include a lack of proper “implementation” by field staff.
“For example, during our meeting, committee members relayed examples where examiners demanded to see strategic plans or spent a significant amount of time in the committee member’s office working on another credit union’s exam—activities that appear to be at odds with the NCUA and Mr. (Larry) Fazio’s policies,” the letter reads. “We acknowledge the scope and complexity of the agency, and we commend the efforts we have outlined above to improve examination consistency and to find efficiencies in examination and supervision practices. However, until the NCUA achieves its vision of a more-integrated and streamlined process, we strongly encourage the agency to continue exploring ways that it can provide small credit unions relief.”
Below, please find the specific issues we outlined during the meeting, in addition to our recommendations. One point we would highlight is there appears to be great interest among credit unions of all sizes to raise the cap on non-member deposits. As we expressed to NCUA staff during our meeting, we strongly recommend the agency expedite its efforts on that issue.”
The letter goes on to list as examples of areas to improve or as deserving of additional discussion: examinations, call report modernization efforts, data collection processes, non-member deposits, the forgoing of tests/assessments similar to the approach taken with ACET, small CUs’ risk to the insurance fund, and more.
The full copy of the letter is available in CUToday.info’s The Vault here.