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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NAFCU Statement In Response ICBA's MBL Attack

Washington (June 22, 2015) - National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU)Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler today sent a message to members of Congress to debunk the unsubstantiated claims of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) regarding the National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) proposal to eliminate the member business lending waiver process.

In his message to the Hill, Thaler wrote, "First and foremost, NAFCU has long championed relief from the arbitrary and outdated member business lending cap for credit unions. We strongly support legislation to provide relief from the cap, such as the "Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act" (S. 1440/H.R. 1422), the "Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act" (H.R. 1188) and legislation to exempt loans made to our nation's veterans from the cap (H.R. 1133)."

He stated that the recent banker attacks demonstrated their lack of understanding of credit union member business lending. He noted NAFCU's disagreement with their assertions.

Thaler emphasized, "It is important to note that despite the banker claims, the proposal would still require credit unions to have a board approved general and commercial lending policy. What the proposal would do is eliminate the unnecessarily bureaucratic waiver process under which credit unions are required to seek NCUA approval for basic and routine lending decisions - an important element of relief for credit unions and small businesses.

"While NAFCU and our members believe that this proposal constitutes an important step towards regulatory relief, it does not change or alter the statutory cap on credit union member business lending. NAFCU continues to believe that credit unions deserve relief from this outdated and arbitrary cap, and urges additional action from Congress and NCUA in this regard."

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national trade association that exclusively represents the interests of federally chartered credit unions before the federal government and the public.

Contact: Patty Briotta | 703-842-2820 | pbriotta@nafcu.org