WASHINGTON—NCUA’s Larry Fazio gave a hint in congressional testimony this morning that the NCUA board plans to offer more relief to federal CUs on field of membership than many may be expecting.
In testimony before the House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee today, Fazio, who heads up NCUA’s Office of Examination and Insurance, suggested in his written statement that the final rule on field of membership will include substantially more regulatory relief than the proposed rule as NCUA responds to the comments it has received from credit unions.
Numerous credit unions have either made the move or are contemplating moving to a state charter as a result of what they consider onerous restrictions on field of membership for federals. NCUA Vice Chairman Rick Metsger has made FOM relief his chief issue and has been leading the charge for relief.
Fazio said NCUA would also support legislation to permit all federal credit unions to expand their membership by adding underserved areas, and said the agency is also working to identify other statutory proposals related to updating field-of-membership limits.