ALEXANDRIA, Va. –NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz announced she will step down from the job on April 30, after nearly seven years in her current position. Matz’s departure could mean significant changes for the make-up of the NCUA board. Current board member Mark McWatters has been nominated for a board seat on the Export-Import Bank and, if confirmed, will also leave NCUA. That would leave Vice Chairman Rick Metsger as the only board member. The eventual make-up of the board will also be determined by the outcome of the presidential and congressional elections.
Matz, the only person to ever serve two different terms on the NCUA board, has held her current post since August of 2009. She was appointed by President Obama. Her term officially expired on April 10, 2015, but as has often been the case with NCUA board members as Congress remains gridlocked, she has continued to serve on the board.
“I am proud of all that NCUA has accomplished to bring stability, advance growth and promote flexibility in our nation’s credit unions,” Matz said in a statement. “Through the hard work of credit union officials and NCUA staff, the credit union system rebounded mightily from the depths of the Great Recession. Virtually every metric indicates indicates the credit union system today is strong and resilient.”
In a statement issued by NCUA, it was stated that when Matz became chairman, “the credit union system was on the brink of collapse.”
“The survival of the system was threatened by corporate credit unions holding $50 billion in toxic assets and consumer credit unions facing billions of dollars in potential losses,” the agency said in its statement. “Such catastrophic losses would have wiped out the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which at the time had only $8 billion in assets.”
Echoing remarks Matz made during CUNA’s recent GAC, Matz said, “We worked around the clock to prevent the collapse of the credit union system, when the outcome was really in doubt. My top priority was to save as many credit unions as we could, minimize total losses, rebuild the Insurance Fund and stabilize the credit union system. We then focused on shoring up gaps in supervision, regulations, policies and procedures that threatened safety and soundness, and put new safeguards in place to stop the hemorrhaging and prevent the system from failing.”
NCUA noted that NCUA was the first federal financial institution regulator to recover losses from Wall Street, with Matz noting some $2.4 billion has been received to date. Additional recoveries, said Matz, make it likely credit unions will eventually see a rebate on the special assessments paid as a result of the corporate CU failures.
While Matz has been chairman, NCUA said she has overseen a Regulatory Modernization Initiative that began in 2011 and that to date has yielded 21 “areas of innovative regulatory relief.” She also spearheaded the creation of the Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives.
Under Matz, the agency’s budget and size has also steadily increased, which has earned strong criticism from the credit union trade groups, as well as from NCUA Board Member Mark McWatters.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with the bright and talented NCUA staff who dedicate their working lives to protecting the hard-earned dollars of nearly 103 million credit union account holders,” Matz said. “From entry-level examiners to staff who have spent decades with the agency, our employees are hard-working, creative and passionate about the agency’s mission.”
Since 2009, NCUA said Matz has held 19 in-person Listening Sessions, hosted 13 industry-wide webinars, and participated in meetings with tens of thousands of credit union officials representing every state.
Praise for Staff
Overall, Matz has served 11 years on the NCUA board, and is the only person ever confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate for an NCUA board seat. A native of New York, Matz served her first term from 2002-05. Matz has been the agency’s eighth chairman. She also was appointed by President Bill Clinton as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and earlier worked on Capitol Hill, including nine years as an economist with the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
After leaving the agency Matz plans to take time off before pursuing new professional opportunities.
In response to the announcement, Vice Chairman Rick Metsger made the following statement: “NCUA is fortunate to have had Chairman Matz’s steady hand on the tiller during challenging economic times for the credit union community. Her leadership brought stability to the system in the aftermath of the Great Recession. She also provided flexibility for credit unions to meet today’s changing economic conditions, so that they can continue to meet the financial needs of American consumers.
“I greatly admire how Chairman Matz addressed significant challenges head-on, and always through the prism of what is best for credit union members. Her leadership laid the groundwork for the recovery of the credit union system after the financial crisis and, more recently, significant growth in loans and capital. During the last seven years, membership at federally insured credit unions surpassed 100 million and shares and deposits broke through the $1 trillion dollar threshold. These are important and historic milestones.“On a personal note, I will miss Debbie greatly. I have enjoyed working with her, and I have benefited immensely from her wisdom and experience. She has not only been a great colleague, but a great friend as well.”
Statement From Nussle
CUNA President and CEO Jim Tussle said he personally spoke with Matz immediately following her retirement announcement.
“When I talked to NCUA chair Debbie Matz, I expressed, on behalf of CUNA and our membership, our thanks and gratitude for her distinguished service to credit unions,” said Nussle. “As our regulator, she most recently made substantial progress in removing barriers to credit union service by cutting back regulations related to member business lending and field of membership. Throughout the time I worked with her, she kept her door open, always willing to listen to our ideas and concerns about the needs of credit unions at NCUA.”
Statement From Berger
In Arlington, Va., NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said, “We appreciate Chairman Matz’s years of service to NCUA and the credit union industry,” Berger said. “NAFCU has had a productive working relationship with the agency under Chairman Matz’s leadership that has led to important regulatory relief for the credit union industry. We wish her well in the future.”
Statement From Ito
NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito said, "We thank and commend Chairman Matz for leading NCUA during the biggest threat to the US credit union system in its 107-year history. More closely related to states, we acknowledge and thank her for voluntarily opening up the overhead transfer rate to public notice and comment, representing an historic step and adding to the Chairman’s long-held desire to bring greater transparency to the agency. Overall, the state system appreciates Chairman Matz’ willingness over the years to engage with state supervisory authorities on regulatory innovations and to exchange best practices with her state agency counterparts. From our point of view, this exchange is innately healthy and ultimately leads to a stronger credit union system that makes both state and federal charters more safe, more sound, and more competitive in the broader financial services marketplace."