WASHINGTON—Representatives from more than a dozen NAFCU-member credit unions, along with NAFCU staff, recently met with Treasury’s Office of Financial Institutions to discuss digital assets and climate-related financial risks as it pertains to the credit union industry.
During the meeting, NAFCU said it and the 14 participating credit unions shared concerns on the continued affect climate change has had on financial markets, encouraging the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), including the NCUA and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to work together to create climate risk policies.
NAFCU, along with other trade groups, recently pushed back during the NCUA budget briefing against the idea that their regulator should also been examining for climate change-related risk, as CUToday.info reported here.
On the FSOC’s October report on climate-related financial risks, the association noted there are concerns regarding states with higher climate risks where insurers are no longer willing to underwrite policies on properties in said areas.
Digital Assets Discussed
The group also discussed the adoption of digital assets, specifically in reviewing the challenges and risks of these innovations in non-regulated spaces. NAFCU said it shared several concerns related to the use of cryptocurrency and credit unions’ exclusion from the President’s Working Group’s (PWG) report on stablecoins.
In addition, NAFCU said it and the credit union members expressed concerns regarding the CDFI backlog, asking Treasury to provide a status update for 2022. The association noted it has advocated for the FHFA to consider purchasing mortgage loans from CDFIs to help underserved borrowers and encourages Treasury to urge the FHFA to begin this process.
Attending the meeting for NAFCU were Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Greg Mesack, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev, and Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Kaley Schafer.