WASHINGTON—NAFCU is offering what it is calling a “roadmap” for regulatory reform to Treasury in a letter that supports a presidential executive order for reduced regulation. The association called it "a valuable framework for promoting growth and innovation across all sectors."
The executive order, issued Jan. 30 and published Feb. 3 in the Federal Register, is titled "Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs." The order directs federal agencies and departments to ensure that the net incremental cost of all new regulations falls below zero.
In the letter, NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Alexander Monterrubio said the order could lead to positive outcomes for credit unions. The most significant opportunities for reducing regulation and mitigating costs, he wrote, are contained in Treasury's recent report, "A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities."
"NAFCU believes that Treasury's report is the first step in achieving a net reduction in regulatory costs consistent with the president's executive order," Monterrubio wrote.
This Treasury report, which cites NAFCU's Report on Credit Unions, highlights nearly 100 legislative and regulatory reforms for the financial service industry at large and includes 31 provisions that would offer relief specifically to credit unions and their members.
NAFCU said that key among those are:
- Reduced regulatory fragmentation, overlap and duplication
- Flexibility for community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions
- Tailored regulations and exemptions for small institutions where permitted
- An annual review of the CFPB's regulations
- Reform of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to further facilitate information sharing and coordination among member agencies (which include the NCUA and CFPB)
- Harmonization of financial regulatory agencies' cybersecurity standards and principles
- Rigorous cost-benefit analyses and great use of notices of proposed rulemaking to solicit public comment
- Review of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's current-expected-credit-loss standard