WASHINGTON—There will not be “any credit unions left” if the over-regulation of the CU community isn’t brought out control, America’s Credit Unions has told Congress.
The trade group expressed that view in letters it send to the House Financial Services and the Senate Banking Committees in conjunction with hearings with federal financial regulators this week.
As CUToday.info reported, NCUA Chairman Todd Harper was unable to attend due to his temporary leave of absence but did submit testimony on several agency priorities.
‘Missed Opportunity’
“Chairman Harper has missed an opportunity to tell policymakers [in his testimony] all the good work that credit unions are doing and instead is creating such an over regulation of the industry that we won’t have any credit unions left if we remain on this path,” Nussle wrote. “In his written testimony, Chairman Harper acknowledges the strength of the credit union industry, and that both the industry and its insurance fund are well run and well capitalized. However, he then highlights his desire for Congress to enact a number of statutory changes that will increase the costs and regulatory burdens for credit unions.”
While four former NCUA chairs sent a letter earlier this week to Congress calling for the agency to be given third party vendor oversight authority—which Harper has also called for—Nussle said it is not needed, nor are structural reforms to the Share Insurance Fund.
Recommendations Offered
Nussle’s letter offers several recommendations the trade group said would “help the NCUA embrace the importance of cost-efficiency and prudent financial management” in its 2025-2026 budgets.
Those recommendations include that NCUA should:
- Utilize an 18-month or longer extended cycle for all low-risk, well-run credit unions under $3 billion in assets, in line with the flexibility currently in place for banks
- Issue guidance allowing credit unions to add digital asset related services to the list of preapproved permissible activities of CUSOs to allow them to provide cryptocurrency related services
‘Immense Pressure’
Nussle also said the committees need to understand the “immense pressure” credit unions—large and small—are under in terms of compliance and operational challenges, and to consider legislative action on these issues and to allow the NCUA to provide a broader set of investment options for federal credit unions.
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