ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU has sent a letter to NCUA restating concerns it has about the agency’s 2017-2021 Draft Strategic Plan.
"This document is a very important tool with long-lasting implications that will continue to impact the industry beyond 2021,” wrote NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Michael Emancipator. “As the agency implements its strategies to achieve its goals and objectives, we urge NCUA to do so in the least burdensome fashion."
Some key concerns expressed by NAFCU in its letter include its call for NCUA to provide greater transparency, over NCUA's growing annual budget, industry consolidation, and what it said is the need for 18-month examination cycle for well-managed, low-risk credit unions.
Emancipator also restated NAFCU's position regarding the agency's adoption of cybersecurity measures. He stressed that cybersecurity is not an issue to be solved with more red tape.
"NAFCU asks the agency to acknowledge that emerging cyber risks must be addressed by adopting solutions that are scalable and nimble enough to be used both on an institution-level and industry-wide basis to identify and respond to the ever-changing threat landscape," he said.
Emancipator renewed NAFCU's position regarding NCUA's pursuit of third-party vendor authority.
"NAFCU believes NCUA is already authorized to thoroughly regulate credit unions and their third-party relationships through the existing exam process,” wrote Emancipator. “NAFCU disagrees with the assertion that third-party vendor examination and enforcement authority will provide any significant improvement to credit union safety and soundness. Instead, we believe that such authority would require an additional outlay of agency resources, which will in turn necessitate higher costs to credit unions."