WASHINGTON—The actions of the NCUA board last week show what can be accomplished through advocacy and credit union grassroots efforts, according to both CUNA and NAFCU.
As CUToday.info’s extensive board meeting coverage reported, the NCUA has approved a final FOM rule that gave credit unions greater growth flexibility, put out for comment a proposed rule that would make even more FOM changes, announced that that a supplemental capital ANPR is coming, and held a budget briefing.
CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said that all of NCUA’s actions last week are a prime example of “what is possible when (CUNA’s) 360-Degree Advocacy (program) is put into action.”
Focusing on the FOM rules, Donovan said that last week’s “positive outcomes” were achieved because “CUNA and the leagues worked together to make sure NCUA understood what credit unions need in a modernized field of membership regulation. We worked with NCUA to get what was achievable under the Federal Credit Union Act. And the strong grassroots messages from credit unions demonstrated the support (for a new rule) throughout the CU system.”
Donovan also credited the work of CUNA’s former Federal CU Subcommittee and its successor committee in influencing the FOM rule. Donovan said that comparing the FOM proposal to the final rule shows that CUNA and league efforts had a strong impact.
“Was the final rule precisely as we suggested? No. It never is. But as I have said before, there is more than one way to make change for a dollar and in the final rule we got more than our dollar’s worth,” said Donovan.
NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt emphasized how NAFCU has worked hard for its members to bring about NCUA’s actions last week.
Focusing on the budget briefing Hunt said that NAFCU has been at the forefront of pushing for NCUA budget transparency.
Hunt said that NAFCU “has been there every step of the way” as CU and trade association efforts unfolded in recent years to push for greater transparency.
“Whether it has been letters or meetings we have been the watchdogs for our members, and we are certainly happy that this progress has been made,” said Hunt. “But we are not there yet, particularly relating to corporate stabilization and credit unions seeing refunds. We still think there is work to do there.”