ARLINGTON, Va.—Continuing to express concern over the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s pending rule change on accounting for credit impairment, NAFCU has sent a letter to the agency requesting an updated credit losses exposure draft for public comment.
"The entire industry deserves every available opportunity to find an appropriate balance between the costs to institutions and the benefits to financial instrument reporting,” wrote NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger.
Berger added that credit unions, as member-owned, not-for-profit cooperatives, should be entirely exempt from the credit losses project.
“However, even if the FASB will not consider the special structure of credit unions specifically, at a minimum, the confusion and lack of transparency surrounding the proposal warrants further consideration and delay before finalization,” Berger said.
Berger noted the Administrative Procedure Act requires federal agencies to engage in subsequent comment periods if changes are made to a rule that make it no longer a logical outgrowth of the initial proposal. He acknowledged that FASB is a private, nonprofit organization and is not subject to the requirements of the APA but said those requirements could serve as a helpful guide to the board.