Newsroom

NAFCU's Regulatory Committee meets today to discuss various proposals from the NCUA, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (bureau) and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), including payday alternative loans (PALs), field-of-membership (FOM) rules, consumer complaints and capital requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

• PALs: 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 NCUA issued a proposed rulemaking to expand its PALs program in May, which would be an alternative option that features higher loan amounts, longer loan terms and less strict membership requirements. The Regulatory Committee will discuss the proposal today; NAFCU is seeking member credit union feedback on the proposal through its Regulatory Alert by Friday.
• FOM II: The NCUA finalized its second rule to modernize FOM requirements last month. During today's Regulatory Committee meeting, NAFCU staff will explain what the rule means for credit unions seeking approval to form, expand or convert to a community charter. NAFCU has pushed NCUA's efforts to modernize FOM in order to allow credit unions to serve more consumers as the association believes such efforts are well within the NCUA's legal authority.

• Consumer complaints: This request for information (RFI) from the bureau is the final of 12 released to obtain feedback on how to improve the bureau's functions and outcomes. The Regulatory Committee today will discuss how the bureau collects and responds to consumer complaints and inquiries. NAFCU has previously urged the bureau to stop publishing unverified complaints which could misrepresent financial institutions to consumers.

• GSEs' capital requirements: The FHFA in June proposed a rule to set capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. NAFCU is supportive of efforts to ensure the GSEs' stability in the secondary mortgage market on which credit unions rely. The Regulatory Committee will review the FHFA's proposal and discuss how its fits into NAFCU's core principles for housing finance reform.

NAFCU's Regulatory Committee will meet again Aug. 14.