Oct. 24, 2012 – Credit unions now have until Nov. 26 – 30 days more – to comment on an NCUA proposal that would broaden the definition of small credit unions to those having less than $30 million in assets, NCUA announced.
The proposed rule, issued by the NCUA Board at its September meeting, would provide regulatory relief for small credit unions under $30 million in assets and require the agency to more thoroughly evaluate the effect of proposed rules on those credit unions.
Those institutions below the $30 million in asset threshold would also be exempt from certain regulations, including the rule on interest rate risk that was issued earlier this year and the agency’s risk-based net worth requirements.
Currently, NCUA defines a “small” credit union as one with less than $10 million in assets. When NCUA adopted that threshold in 2003, 52 percent of credit unions qualified as “small entities.” Only 35 percent of credit unions currently fall under the $10 million threshold. NCUA says its proposal would raise that to 58 percent, or 4,000 credit unions.
NCUA said it extended the comment period for this proposal, originally set at Oct. 26, following requests for more time to prepare and submit comments.
NAFCU General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Carrie Hunt said the association welcomes the proposed rule but said NAFCU will “push the agency to raise the threshold even higher so even more small credit unions can benefit from reduced regulatory burden.”
NAFCU has issued a Regulatory Alert to members.