NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood wrote to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, this week with several suggestions Congress can make to improve the operating environment for credit unions. Many suggestions align with CUNA’s suggestions raised during engagement with both NCUA and members of Congress in recent weeks.
Hood thanked Crapo for his work passing the CARES Act and noted additional funding for NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants would help more credit unions responding to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Hood’s recommendations fall under several categories:
Liquidity
Prompt corrective action framework
Lending
In addition, Hood called for a change in the requirement that if a multiple common bond credit union wants to offer services to select employee groups or associations it must be in reasonable proximity to a credit union service facility.
This requirement is outdated and unnecessarily restricts access to credit union services for individuals and businesses,” he wrote. “NCUA requests that the reasonable proximity requirement be removed or significantly amended to permit greater flexibility for members to join a credit union. Field of membership eligibility requirements would remain in place.”