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Rules on PALs, bylaws and supervisory committee audits on NCUA agenda
The NCUA Board next week is set to issue three final rules: payday alternative loans (PALs), federal credit union bylaws, and supervisory committee audits. The board will also receive an update on the share insurance fund.
Payday alternative loans
The NCUA included PALs on its spring rulemaking agenda. PALs II, as proposed, would not replace the current PALs rule, but would be an alternative option that features higher loan amounts, longer loan terms, and less strict membership requirements. The NCUA has also left open the option for PALs III.
NAFCU has long advocated for additional mechanisms to allow credit unions to provide more small-dollar loans to members in need, and also hosted a small-dollar lending working group to explore additional small dollar lending options for credit unions. The association continues to advocate for an extension of the CFPB's Payday Lending Rule’s safe harbor to cover all future iterations of the PALs program.
Federal credit union bylaws
The NCUA proposed several amendments to carry out the agency's intent to update, clarify, and simplify the federal credit union bylaws last year. The bylaws have not been revised since 2007.
NAFCU has ardently advocated for bylaws changes and previously offered ways to modernize them, including adjustments to the amendment process, shares of members, limitation of services, meetings of members, elections, recruitment and development, and expulsion. The association also provided a detailed explanation of its recommended changes in a letter.
Supervisory committee audits
Earlier this year, NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel Kaley Schafer thanked the agency for its "commitment to providing supervisory committees flexibility in performing their audit duties."
Schafer also asked the agency to preserve the Supervisory Committee Guide to allow credit unions to continue to access it as a resource, and to not include any additional areas of review in Appendix A at this time.
NAFCU will attend Thursday's meeting, set to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern, and update credit unions on the outcomes. The meeting will be livestreamed on the agency's website.