NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood and National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors Chairman John Kolhoff signed a Document of Cooperation Wednesday pledging continued coordination between state and federal regulators within the credit union dual chartering system. The new document is a significant update to the agreement signed by the agency and NASCUS in 2007.

The document lays out general principles for ensuring credit unions’ safety and soundness, enhancing supervision, and fostering “an environment of innovation, prosperity and success.”

Hood, who gave remarks at NASCUS State System Summit in San Francisco, also reported on the progress of the NCUA-State Supervisor Working Group, created in 2017.

“The group is committed to evaluating the examination program for federally insured, state-chartered credit unions and making recommendations for changes,” he said. “I am excited about the possibilities it represents.”

The Working Group, comprised of NCUA senior staff and representatives from six state credit union regulators, used ideas gathered from focus groups and other credit union stakeholder outreach to create a work plan in three phases, Hood said.

• Phase I, recently completed, developed a pilot program for a system of alternating examinations. Six states are now participating in that program.
• Phase II, now under way, will identify improvements in coordination and cooperation between the NCUA and state regulators when conducting joint exams or supervision.
• Phase III will look for other potential benefits to credit unions from improved collaboration between state and federal regulators.

Hood praised the Working Group for its accomplishments and said the group’s efforts reflected the basic values of the credit union system.

“What we’re doing is really no more than staying faithful to the fundamental credit union principle of people helping people,” he said, “working together to support one another, to share best ideas, to fulfill needs, to find solutions, to create opportunities, to help credit unions and their members grow, thrive, and prosper.”