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In a "credit union industry letter," NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger last week called on the incoming Trump administration to support regulatory relief for credit unions.

In the letter, published in Morning Consult in advance of Friday's inauguration of President Donald Trump, Berger noted that credit unions fill a needed space in the nation's economy.

"Based on NAFCU's 2015 Economic & CU Monitor, only 27.2 percent of bank loans to small businesses were under $1 million, compared with 85.4 percent of credit union loans to their member small businesses," Berger wrote. "Credit unions would like to do more to support America's entrepreneurs and promote our economic leadership. Unfortunately, credit unions are hindered from lending more to small business due to an arbitrary lending cap that effectively limits their total business loans to 1.75 times of their net worth.

"Eliminating this unnecessary regulatory burden would allow credit unions to make more capital available to small business to help create jobs and grow our economy," Berger continued.

Berger emphasized that overregulation over the years has hurt the credit union industry, 20 percent of which has been lost since implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.

"As credit unions continue to disappear, small businesses and consumers are faced with fewer safe, low-cost options for credit. Credit unions desperately need meaningful regulatory relief in order to continue providing high-quality products and services to their more than 106 million members," Berger wrote. "Ultimately, we believe America needs more Main Street and less Wall Street."

Berger said NAFCU looks forward to working with the new administration to help small businesses realize the American dream in the coming years.