ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU once again is calling for an 18-month exam cycle for well-run credit unions.
The trade association re-emphasized its position in response to NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz’s letter to Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) and 30 other House members in which she notes any consideration of an 18-month exam cycle would not occur until 2017.
Rep. Guinta had strongly urged a return to an 18-month exam cycle for well-run credit unions in a letter signed by the 30 other bipartisan lawmakers.
“Credit unions that are well-run and well-managed deserve and need the relief that shortened exams provide. Two years is too long to wait for this relief,” said NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt. “While we appreciate Chairman Matz's desire to prioritize modernization efforts, we believe a shortened exam cycle can be implemented in tandem with those efforts. NAFCU will continue to strongly advocate for this change."
A letter sent to Matz last month, spearheaded by House Financial Services Committee members Guinta and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), thanked NCUA for its focus on regulatory relief but says more can be done to ease the regulatory burden on credit unions. It notes the agency’s recent budget estimates – $231 million for employee compensation and $6.4 million for airfare and auto rentals – and says moving to an extended exam cycle could help cut these costs.
In her response, Matz noted the various modernization efforts the agency is making to their systems – including call report and examination and examination software platforms – and laid out the many regulatory relief initiatives NCUA has put into effect for credit unions.
NAFCU said it has repeatedly asked NCUA to return healthy credit unions to an 18-month exam cycle, adding that credit unions are the only federally regulated depository institution subject to a strict, 12-month exam cycle at the federal level.