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NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Michael Emancipator on Friday recommended several improvements to the rules currently under review by the NCUA, including those for Bank Secrecy Act compliance, loans in areas with special flood hazards and requests for information via the Freedom of Information Act.

The agency is reviewing these and other rules in its yearly, rolling review of one-third of its regulations. The NCUA released this year's review list in April. Below are highlights of NAFCU's comments, along with some suggestions, including that the NCUA publish the Office of General Counsel's final 2016 regulatory review report.

BSA compliance: NAFCU is urging the NCUA to coordinate with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to ensure "sensible regulation and exams are tailored to actual risks." Emancipator added that examiners should focus on the intent and usefulness of suspicious activity reports (SARs) rather than zero-tolerance, technical compliance.

"We recommend that NCUA amend Part 748 to reflect the spirit of the law while still ensuring safeguards are in place to inhibit bad actors from exploiting the financial system," he wrote. He also requested that NCUA support improvements to FinCEN regulations, such as increased thresholds for filing currency transaction and SARs.

Record retention and catastrophic preparedness guidelines: The NCUA should align these requirements with statutes of limitations. "Maintaining records indefinitely is an administrative burden that exceeds the reasonable intentions of record retention rules," Emancipator noted.

Flood insurance regulation: NAFCU recommends that the agency provide more flexibility with respect to the delivery and timing of required notices. The NCUA should support legislative efforts that would achieve long-term authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.

NCUA Board's rulemaking process: NAFCU recommends that NCUA publish solicited comments on regulations.gov.

FOIA requests: NAFCU urges the NCUA "to exceed minimum statutory standards and zealously apply an approach to information-sharing that would surpass the Act's goal of adopting a 'presumption of openness,'" Emancipator wrote.

Among other comments, the NAFCU letter urges that the NCUA codify interpretive rulings and policy statements and standardize publication of legal opinion letters. It also reiterates NAFCU's recommendations regarding model bylaws and the payday alternative loan (PAL) program. Emancipator wrote that NCUA's "efforts to coordinate with other financial banking agencies to avoid regulations that would surely hamstring credit unions' efforts to lend are appreciated."