CUNA Urges Congress to Pass Bill to Study CECL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

May 22, 2019 

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) today wrote in support of S. 1564, the Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act, which would require the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard to be delayed and studied by the Securities and Exchange Commission along with the federal financial regulators, including the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). 

CECL is a new accounting standard that changes the accounting for credit losses, recognizing lifetime expected credit losses instead of the current “incurred-loss” approach. The trade association has long maintained its position that CECL is inappropriate for credit unions, presents a new compliance burden, and will affect the financial standing of credit unions.  

“CECL is intended to address delayed recognition of credit losses resulting in insufficient funding of the allowance accounts of certain covered entities. However, underfunding of allowance accounts has not generally been an issue for credit unions,” CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote. “Further, the typical user of a credit union’s financial statements is not a public investor—such as with large, public banks—but instead is the credit union’s prudential regulator, the NCUA.” 

CUNA recognizes that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which issued the standard, is an independent entity, but Congress should utilize its authority to “improve CECL, or at a minimum, ensure there is sufficient, relevant information regarding CECL’s impact from which future decisions can be made.” 

The letter includes research from CUNA that shows nearly one in five credit unions expect CECL to negatively impact their members ability to obtain credit.  

Read the letter in full here.  

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About CUNA:        
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.  

CONTACT:       

Lauren Williams      
CUNA Communications      
202-672-3396