WASHINGTON—During testimony at a congressional hearing, NCUA’s director of Examination and Insurance, Larry Fazio, said the agency plans to consider a proposal to raise the definition of a small credit union to $100 million in assets from the current $50 million in assets.
“Increasing the threshold from $50 million to $100 million would provide special consideration for regulatory relief for an additional 745 credit unions in future rulemakings,” Fazio told a Senate Banking Committee hearing on regulatory relief for small financial institutions. “Should the board adopt a $100-million threshold, 77% of all credit unions would be covered in future considerations of regulatory relief. Taking this action also would recognize the challenges encountered by credit unions below $100 million in assets, which have slower deposit growth rates, slower membership growth rates, and higher operating costs than peer credit unions above the threshold.”
Fazio also called on Congress to change certain FOM rules.
“Allowing federal credit unions that have a community or single common-bond charter the opportunity to add underserved areas would open up access for many more unbanked and underbanked households to credit union membership,” Fazio said.
Fazio’s full statement can be found here.