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Members of NAFCU's Regulatory Committee met yesterday to discuss two proposals related to innovation – the CFPB's "tech sprints" and the Federal Reserve's FedNow Service for real-time payments – as well as the NCUA's recently finalized rule to amend federal credit union bylaws and housing finance reform efforts.

Innovation

The CFPB recently issued a proposal to use tech sprints as a way to encourage innovation and address regulatory compliance challenges, and the committee explored yesterday which compliance functions could benefit from their use. NAFCU has a Regulatory Alert with more information on the proposal; comments are due to the bureau Nov. 8.

On the Fed's faster payments proposal, the committee discussed what features could incentivize credit unions' use of the FedNow Service and how payments fraud risks could be minimized. NAFCU has shared with the Fed that a faster payments system could help attract new members and improve overall satisfaction with credit unions' services. More information can be found in NAFCU's Regulatory Alert; comments are due to the Fed Nov. 7.

Bylaws

Representatives from the NCUA joined the committee call to review details of the agency's final bylaws rule, which goes into effect Jan. 2, 2020. Although adoption of the bylaws is only required for newly-chartered credit unions, existing credit unions can implement aspects of the final rule if they wish to do so. The final rule includes a new provision for "members in good standing" and facilitates a limitation of services policy for more problematic members. It also changes the language regarding meeting attendance and joint accounts.

While NAFCU believes the NCUA's final rule is a positive step toward modernizing the bylaws and providing credit unions with more flexibility, the association has advocated for additional changes to the bylaws, including the article regarding expulsion procedures. NAFCU's Compliance Blog has several posts available to help credit unions better understand the extent of the NCUA's bylaws rule.

Housing Finance Reform

NAFCU staff discussed the Treasury Department's recently released housing finance reform plan, which proposes a multiple guarantor system, and provided updates on recent actions taken by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as well as recent congressional hearings on the administration’s housing finance reform efforts. NAFCU has long advocated for credit unions' unfettered access to the secondary mortgage market and has shared its principles for housing finance reform with lawmakers and other stakeholders several times.

The next Regulatory Committee meeting will be Nov. 12.