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The House Financial Services Committee will mark-up more than a dozen bills tomorrow, including one that would stop the NCUA's risk-based capital rule (RBC) from going into effect on Jan. 1, 2019. Last week, a NAFCU witness testified before a House panel on the negative impact the rule will likely have on the credit union industry.

The Common Sense Credit Union Capital Relief Act of 2017 (H.R. 4464) was recently introduced by committee member Bill Posey, R-Fla. NAFCU witness Brian Ducharme, president and CEO of MIT Federal Credit Union (Cambridge, Mass.), focused his comments before a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing last week on this bill.

Over the past three years, NAFCU has consistently opposed the NCUA's RBC rulemaking and urged its withdrawal because of the adverse effects it would have on the credit union industry – particularly as a result of regulatory burdens and costs. NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters has indicated that revisiting this rulemaking is on his list of priorities for this year.

During his testimony, Ducharme said that more than 400 credit unions will see declines in their capital cushions and roughly 40 credit unions, including MIT FCU, will see a downgrade in their capital levels. Ducharme also noted that studies on risk-based capital have found such requirements "are not appropriate for smaller banks and credit unions" because of their complexity, and "will likely impede economic growth without reductions in systemic risk."

The hearing begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern. Other NAFCU-backed bills being marked-up that association will monitor include:

• Making Online Banking Initiation Legal and Easy Act of 2017 (H.R. 1457), which would establish requirements for financial institutions to use and electronically store a person's driver's license or ID card information when opening an account or obtaining other financial services in order to prevent fraud or criminal activity.
• Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act (H.R. 4545), which would set standards for examination fairness for federal financial institution regulators, including the NCUA, including clear guidance from regulators, consistency from exam to exam, timeliness of reported exam results and an independent appeals process free of examiner retaliation.