Newsroom

House Financial Services Committee members Frank Guinta, R-N.H., and Rubén Hinojosa, D- Texas, are gathering signatures for a letter urging NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz for a return to an 18-month exam cycle for well-run credit unions, and NAFCU is urging members to help.

The bipartisan letter thanks NCUA for its focus on regulatory relief but says more can be done to ease the regulatory burden on credit unions. The letter notes the agency's recent budget estimates – $231 million for employee compensation and $6.4 million for airfare and auto rentals – and says moving to an extended exam cycle could help cut these costs.

It also notes that Congress last year overwhelmingly approved allowing such change for banks, and that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board have also taken their first steps toward an extended exam cycle for banks. This leaves credit unions as the only federally regulated depository institution subject to a strict, 12-month exam cycle at the federal level.

"We applaud Representatives Guinta and Hinojosa for their leadership on this issue," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. NAFCU has repeatedly called for an 18-month examination cycle for well-run credit unions.

"Credit unions did not cause the financial crisis, are in extremely sound shape as an industry, and do not need the additional burden of more frequent exams," Berger wrote in a letter last month to the NCUA Board urging the move.

NAFCU encourages credit unions to contact their members of Congress and ask them to sign the letter. Credit unions should visit NAFCU's Grassroots Action Center or call (202) 224-3121 to reach their member of Congress.