Newsroom

December 12, 2013

Berger, in call-in, says 'enough is enough' on regs

Dec. 13, 2013 – NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger, with other senior staff, discussed a variety of issues important to credit unions in Thursday's member-only call-in, "Year-End Wrap-Up," including regulatory burden and NAFCU's release of a "dirty dozen" list of rules that are ripe for change now.

Berger and staff reviewed major developments from 2013 and looked ahead to challenges in the new year. Berger opened the call by noting how busy 2013 was for NAFCU and its members with regard to compliance and the increasing regulatory burden. He mentioned NAFCU's recent hire of two new regulatory compliance counsels, and discussed NAFCU's focus on the theme of "enough is enough" in its fight for regulatory relief in 2014. He said NAFCU will be focusing on the "dirty dozen" list going into 2014.

NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt reviewed NAFCU Board members' recent meetings with Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jeremy Stein and CFPB Director Richard Cordray. She also updated members on the status of the debit interchange fee lawsuit appeal and discussed developments at NCUA, including the recent announcement that no corporate assessment is expected for 2014.

Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler highlighted NAFCU's housing finance reform priorities, which include ensuring credit unions guaranteed access to the secondary mortgage market and fair pricing based on loan quality instead of volume. He also discussed the fight for regulatory relief legislation (see more about the association's five-point plan for regulatory relief) and NAFCU's testimony at recent House hearings on CFPB reform and member business lending.

Projections regarding the political landscape in 2014 were detailed by Vice President of Political Affairs Katie Marisic, who listed some of the congressional races credit unions will want to watch next year. She said that even though tax reform appears to be on hold until next year, NAFCU will remain vigilant in working to protect the credit union tax exemption.

Director of Regulatory Compliance JiJi Bahhur discussed the latest compliance issues, and recommended members look at the NAFCU Compliance Monitor's year-in-review article for "one-stop-shop compliance highlights for 2013." Senior Economist Curt Long discussed the recent strong sales data for homes, retail, and vehicles, and said the GDP is "still muddling along. Long also noted that "credit union loan growth is surging."

NAFCU member-only call-ins are free as a benefit of membership; the archived file from Thursday's call-in is available online.