ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU is pressing NCUA to make changes to its proposed rule on fixed assets. In a letter to the agency, NAFCU’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, Mike Coleman, said FCUs should be allowed to independently manage their investments in fixed assets “in order to accomplish their growth strategies. While NAFCU generally supports the proposed amendments, we believe that certain adjustments are necessary to provide the requisite clarity and relief that NCUA is attempting to achieve.”
NAFCU expressed its support for relief from the current requirement to obtain a waiver to exceed the 5% aggregate limit on investments in fixed assets, but said that it “continues to hear from its members that the current requirement to obtain a waiver is far too restrictive, and often prevents them from expanding the resources and services they provide to their membership…Having to wait 45 days for a waiver to be approved by NCUA is not workable.”
Exemptions Are Sought
Saying it was pleased to see relief in the area of delegation and exemption authorities related to fixed assets as part of the FAM program, NAFCU said it wants to see NCUA exempt acquisitions of desktop technologies, such as computers and monitors, as well as upgrades to or renewals of existing desktop software. It also is pressing for an exemption on ATM purchases. In regards to NCUA efforts to simplify the partial occupancy requirements of the fixed asset rule, NAFCU said it also continues to hear from its members that the rule’s occupancy requirements inhibit long-term planning among safe-and-sound credit unions, and it called on NCUA to remove the occupancy requirements from the fixed assets rule.
Separately, Coleman wrote that credit unions continue to face issues during examinations and that the trade association remains concerned that “there is still no independent appeals process for credit unions.” He pointed to a finding that 40% of CUs that received Documents of Resolution during their last exams thought they were unjustified. Coleman suggested using Examiner Findings Reports instead of DORs for less serious, urgent matters. “That would allow management to use its own discretion to determine the timeframe and approach for correcting those less urgent problems,” he wrote.