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ICYMI: NAFCU’s Berger urges NCUA to provide ‘justification’ on budget increases
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger published an op-ed in American Banker expressing disappointment in the NCUA Board for unanimously approving an operating budget that is 7.5 percent higher than the previous year. Berger added that this decision is the opposite of what credit unions are so well known for: being cost-effective and member-service driven.
Berger flagged his concerns for the agency’s decision, stating that while NAFCU supports an independent NCUA as the credit union industry’s top regulator, the association does not support an “indefensible budget increase that is going to fall on the shoulders of credit unions to subsidize.”
Calling out the immediate need for greater transparency and oversight from the NCUA, Berger cited specific agency programs – including the Model Examination and Risk Identification Tool (MERIT) – which far exceeded the agency’s cost projections to the detriment of credit unions.
“From undefined cyber security expenses to unjustified increases in examiner staff, credit unions deserve a clear breakdown of this budget to determine exactly what their annual fees, which will increase next year, will fund,” wrote Berger.
“Credit unions deserve an NCUA that is as efficient and effective with their dollars as they are with their members' hard-earned dollars,” concluded Berger.
Read the op-ed. NAFCU will continue to engage the NCUA to ensure a fair and transparent NCUA operating budget, one that will help credit unions better serve their 134 million members.