The League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates does not agree with a proposal within the National Credit Union Administration’s budget that would create more rigorous examination for complex credit unions.
“We’re opposed to this because there’s no evidence that it’s necessary,” said Mike Lee, director of regulatory advocacy for the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates. “There’s no evidence that these credit unions haven’t been fulfilling their compliance obligations. It’s a solution in search of a problem.”
The NCUA budget proposal at issue would add employees to the Office of Consumer Financial Protection to conduct consumer compliance exams specifically for large, complex credit unions. Earlier this week, Mike sent a letter to the NCUA opposing the proposal on the League’s behalf. The letter asserted that the new rule puts an undeserved burden on large credit unions.
“Just because NCUA’s approach to consumer approach to consumer protection is different than other regulators doesn’t mean it’s ineffective, primarily because credit unions are so different than the other regulated financial institutions,” the correspondence reads.
The letter also points out that the expanded Office of Consumer Financial Protection would create a doubly cumbersome burden for credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets, which are already examined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“Since they’re already examined by the CFPB, there’s no justifiable reason to add an extra examination from NCUA,” Mike said. “Compliance issues and exams can be burdensome for all credit unions — and we oppose any additional burden.”
For more information, feel free to reach out to Mike at michael.lee@lscu.coop.