WASHINGTON—The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) should oppose granting the NCUA third-party vendor authority, America’s Credit Unions wrote to the committee ahead of its hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The letter also covers credit union priorities on cybersecurity, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) certification, and more.
The trade group has repeatedly stated its opposition to any vendor oversight authority by NCUA, even as members of the agency board continue to call on Congress to give it such power. Indeed, on the same day the hearing was being held with Yellen, NCUA Chairman Todd Harper was across town offering remarks to the Brookings Institution during which he again made the request for expanded oversight.
In addition, NCUA has most recently been citing the ransomware attack on a vendor that shutdown approximately 70 CUs as an example of why it needs such oversight.
But in the ACU letter, President/CEO Jim Nussle said the agency can work with Treasury and other regulators in cases where it needs certain cybersecurity-related information, for example.
Rather than expand the NCUA’s authority, Nussle recommended Congress direct the NCUA to use resources within Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) or compel other regulators to provide the NCUA with needed information to meet their needs “without adding burdens for credit unions.”
Additional Requests
In the letter Nussle also:
- Said Treasury should ensure “future implementation of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) is consistent with existing mechanisms for reporting cyber incidents adopted by the NCUA and other federal banking agencies, to the extent certain financial institutions are regarded as critical infrastructure operators.”
- Highlighted the work of the CDFI Fund to overhaul its application but flagged various issues, including CU concerns about the legality of the request to require the collection of race and ethnicity data within certain target markets, and pointed out the CDFI Fund has not provided any additional support or clarity.
- Said detailed reports of delays “of multiple weeks in receiving responses from the CDFI Fund”
- Called for the CDFI Fund to have “appropriate funding to meet its mission and provide sufficient assistance to current and potential CDFI credit unions.”
- Expressed concerns about the NCUA’s climate risk calculations, suggesting it may not reflect a consensus approach for assessing the financial impact of climate risks.
- Said credit unions and CDFIs are best positioned to implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and support green efforts due to their experience in lending and strong community ties.
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