Newsroom

July 14, 2016

Mulvaney-Heck bill eyes NCUA use of NCUSIF funds

Reps. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and Denny Heck, D-Wash., on Thursday introduced legislation to require NCUA to provide justification for any funds the board proposes to use from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.

During NAFCU's June member-only call-in, Mulvaney spoke about his plans for a standalone bill using language from the "Financial CHOICE Act" about NCUA's overhead transfer rate. Thursday's bill would mandate increased transparency, including detailed breakdowns of costs and how the OTR is calculated.

Last year, Mulvaney introduced the NAFCU-backed "National Credit Union Administration Budget Transparency Act" (H.R. 2287/S. 924), a bill to require NCUA to hold yearly budget hearings and release its draft budgets for comment. He has also called for Government Accountability Office studies of nearly every aspect of NCUA's budgeting and expenditure practices.

The CHOICE Act discussion draft – from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas – includes a NAFCU-supported repeal of the Durbin amendment.

In other provisions, the draft bill contemplates a regulatory burden "off ramp" for institutions with capital ratios exceeding 10 percent and other relief for well-capitalized institutions from certain regulatory restrictions. The draft would also establish a Credit Union Advisory Council at NCUA, subject the NCUA budget to congressional appropriations approval, require annual budget hearings for NCUA and require 18-month examination cycles for well-run credit unions with under $1 billion in assets.