WASHINGTON--With NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday, America’s Credit Unions Senior Vice President of Advocacy Greg Mesack outlined several credit union priorities in a letter sent for the hearing’s record.
Hauptman will testify alongside other federal financial regulators.
ACU Monday also called on FinCEN to improve section 314(a) information requests.
Mesack noted America’s Credit Unions’ ongoing support for NCUA’s proposed budget reduction in 2026, agency modernization and restructuring efforts, and elimination of reputation risk from examinations and supervision.
To help credit unions continue to meet members’ financial needs, NCUA should:
- Maintain the current 18% temporary interest rate ceiling for federal credit unions beyond its expiration in March 2026
- Align with recent federal financial regulator reforms by modernizing examination scope and frequency and clarifying the standards for “unsafe or unsound practices” and formal exam findings
- Provide additional clarity on what custodians of stablecoins or stablecoin reserves may do with those funds beyond general safekeeping, and their status collateral for lending purposes while implementing the GENIUS Act
- Pursue targeted capital relief or credit unions that aligns with the Nov. 25 proposal from federal bank regulators that would implement changes to the community bank leverage ratio framework
- Consider working through the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council to modernize the CAMELS rating system, with a particular focus on the “M” (Management) component
The letter also offered support for the Taskforce for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams (TRAPS) Act (H.R. 4936), which would create a bipartisan task force to combat fraud. America’s Credit Unions also encouraged the committee to support and consider legislation that would provide greater regulatory relief to credit unions, such as the Expanding Access to Lending Options Act (H.R. 4167).
ACU Calls On FinCEN To Improve Section 314(a) Information Requests
Separately, ACU Monday emphasized that credit unions receiving incomplete data in information requests from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) can create “large numbers of false positives” and force employees to conduct time-consuming manual reviews that provide “little value to law enforcement.”
ACU outlined recommendations to reduce this unnecessary compliance burden while improving the quality and usefulness of information credit unions provide to FinCEN and law enforcement in letter sent Monday.
The letter from Regulatory Advocacy Senior Counsel Luke Martone is in response to FinCEN’s request for comment (RFC) on information collection requirements under section 314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act. Martone noted the biggest challenge for credit unions when complying is the “frequent absence of core identifiers” such as date of birth, address, or taxpayer identification numbers.
He recommended that FinCEN require law enforcement to provide more details when gathering information to help financial institutions distinguish between similar names. Additional improvements, he noted, include clearer guidance, advance notice for unusually large requests, alerts when corrected files are issued, and expanded access to standardized training.
Martone also raised concerns about the lack of feedback credit unions receive after submitting 314(a) responses, Suspicious Activity Reports, or Currency Transaction Reports, making it difficult to assess whether their reporting supports law-enforcement efforts.
While the RFC focuses on Section 314(a), Martone highlighted the value of the voluntary section 314(b) information-sharing framework as related to fraud and illicit activity.
“We recognize that the scope of 314(b) is defined by the text of the USA PATRIOT Act and that expanding its coverage would require statutory action. If policymakers consider targeted updates to allow more effective fraud-related information sharing, we strongly request Treasury’s support for such efforts,” he added.