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With NCUA poised to soon take up its 2015 budget, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger weighed in to urge against any increase from the 2014 budget and for transparency on how the agency plans to use funds.

In a letter to NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz, Board Vice Chairman Rick Metsger and Board Member J. Mark McWatters, Berger said they should "look at each line item of the budget with the explicit goal of achieving cost-savings." He reminded that "every single dollar spent by NCUA starts as a dollar from a credit union somewhere in the United States."

Also in the letter, Berger urged:

• NCUA not to use credit union resources to expand its examination authority to third-party vendors. "While NCUA contends that examination and enforcement authority over third party vendors will provide regulatory relief for the industry, NAFCU and our members firmly believe that such authority is unnecessary and will require considerable expenditure of the agency's resources and time," he wrote.
• Clearer disclosures of how NCUA manages fees paid by credit unions. Referring to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, the Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund, the Central Liquidity Fund and its annual operating budget, Berger wrote, "NAFCU and our members strongly believe that credit unions are entitled to know how each fund is being managed."

He also objected to NCUA's practice of the past five years of releasing and approving its annual budget without a formal hearing. "NAFCU wholeheartedly objects to this continued practice and renews its call for the agency to be transparent in the budget process," he wrote.

NCUA usually approves its budget in November. The November open meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20.