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The NCUA Board Thursday announced the elimination of a calendar-year exam cycle for every federal credit union, and for all federally insured state-chartered credit unions with more than $250 million in assets as part of its 2017-2021 strategic plan – a move welcomed by NAFCU.

The policy change does not alter the current 12-month exam cycle employed by the agency, but is a first step toward implementing a longer exam cycle for credit unions. NAFCU has repeatedly asked NCUA to return healthy credit unions to a longer exam cycle as it will save NCUA resources and relieve credit unions of the burden of more frequent exams.

This change was adopted into the agency's 2017-2021 strategic plan by a 2-0 vote.

"NAFCU and our members appreciate that NCUA Board heeded our concerns regarding the exam cycle and voted to eliminate a strict annual exam cycle for federal credit unions and eligible federally-insured state-chartered credit unions as part of its 2017-2021 strategic plan," said NAFCU executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel Carrie Hunt. "We support NCUA's efforts to present long-term goals and objectives for the industry. We urge NCUA to maintain its focus on improving its transparency and making operational improvements. We also renew our support for moving healthy credit unions to an extended exam cycle, which would provide much-needed regulatory relief."

The NCUA Board yesterday also conducted a mid-session budget review, which projected $2.7 million in reduced spending. During the briefing, NCUA provided a breakdown of large blocks of spending, including contracted services, as urged by NAFCU.

NCUA Board Chairman Rick Metsger announced last month at NAFCU's Annual Conference that the agency will hold a public budget briefing this October and release details of the agency's 2017-2018 budget plans in advance. NAFCU has long advocated a return to public budget hearings from the agency.

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger this week thanked the NCUA Board members for announcing the October briefing. He urged the board to continue to act with transparency and increased efficiency in its budget process.

Thursday's board meeting also included a quarterly report on the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The agency noted that no future assessments are expected this year. NAFCU will continue to monitor the health of the fund and work with the agency to ensure that credit unions and their members are protected from any unnecessary assessments.