WASHINGTON—CUNA praised several regulatory relief suggestions from NCUA in a letter to Senate Banking Committee leadership this week.
“The NCUA as credit unions’ prudential regulator ensures the safety and soundness of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and examines and supervises credit unions. Through this role, the NCUA has recognized the need for relief for credit unions from regulatory burdens,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “It recently memorialized several suggestions for alleviating unnecessary burdens and improving the ability of credit unions to serve consumers in a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
CUNA noted that a letter sent by NCUA Acting Chairman Mark McWatters to CFPB Director Richard Cordray in May contains many of these suggestions, including:
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Using the Bureau’s exemption authority to provide relief to credit unions wherever possible
- Highlighting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices as areas that could be reformed by the CFPB to allow credit unions to more fully serve consumers
In Nussle’s letter, he cites the Dodd-Frank Act UDAAP requirement that the CFPB consult with federal agencies as appropriate, concerning the consistency of the proposed rule with prudential, market, or systemic objectives administered by such agencies.
“As the NCUA notes it has a long history of successfully balancing consumer protection with supervision and regulation of credit unions, and these and other views it has for regulating credit unions, should at the very least be carefully analyzed and considered in a meaningful way,” Nussle wrote.