WASHINGTON—NAFCU thanked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for issuing a recent report containing many regulatory relief provisions and outlined some of these measures and their importance to the credit union community.
“Last month, the Treasury Department released a report that is filled with credit union-specific and NAFCU-requested recommendations aimed at helping the industry better serve its members and communities. Citing NAFCU's Annual Report on Credit Unions multiple times, the Treasury report recommends a review of credit union capital requirements and the ‘current expected credit loss’ accounting standard, among other things, NAFCU noted.
"These reforms, if enacted, will make it easier for credit unions to focus on the needs of American consumers," wrote NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger in a letter to Mnuchin.
"NAFCU welcomes the report's dedicated focus on the unique nature of this country's credit unions," Berger wrote. "This nuanced structure is sometimes difficult for federal agencies to fully comprehend, but this report demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the credit union difference, along with the benefits members enjoy and the overly broad regulatory environment they must endure.
"While many of the report's recommendations will require congressional action, we are pleased to see that many others can be implemented through policy shifts at Treasury, or through other federal agency action," Berger added.
Berger specifically pointed out that Mnuchin, as chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, should be able to "coordinate and oversee the group of federal agency heads so that these reforms are implemented." He encouraged Mnuchin to make this framework a topic at an upcoming FSOC meeting.
He also noted recent testimony from NCUA Chairman Mark McWatters before the Senate Banking Committee, which touched upon several topics in the report as well as other statutory and regulatory recommendations for improvement.
Berger told Mnuchin that some of McWatters' suggestions echo his recommendations and that others "further the discussion." Of these, Berger highlighted call report enhancements,examination flexibility, appeals procedures, supplemental capital, field of membership and member business lending, among other topics.
"NAFCU is committed to being engaged with Treasury as we seek to enact these changes together," Berger concluded. "On behalf of this country's nearly 6,000 credit unions, owned by 108 million members, NAFCU appreciates your hard work and dedication to this very monumental issue."