Compliance Blog

Apr 01, 2015

Happenings on the Hill

Written by Jillian Pevo, Director, Legislative Affairs

Good morning faithful Compliance Blog readers! As many of you know, NAFCU’s regulatory compliance team is heading up Regulatory Compliance School here in our nation’s capital this week. For those of you attending, I hope it has been filled with valuable information you can use to stay current on the constant and complex changes on the compliance front.

As a member of NAFCU’s legislative affairs division, my colleagues and I are working hard on Capitol Hill to bring additional Congressional oversight to the regulatory agencies and effectuate change via the legislative process. In recent weeks, NAFCU members have testified before the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees on regulatory relief priorities for credit unions including the impact of NCUA’s second risk-based capital proposal, field of membership changes and a plethora of other issues outlined in NAFCU’s 5 Point Plan for Regulatory Relief. Last week the Financial Services Committee moved a package of bills, several of which positively impacted credit unions, and we expect the Senate will follow suit with their early ideas when Congress comes back from the current recess period.  

Our efforts in gaining momentum for much needed relief from the agencies and lawmakers are membership driven and we would love to hear from you about what regulations are especially burdensome and what changes you have made at your credit union post financial crisis to deal with all the bureaucratic red tape. The more data and specific examples we have to back up the changes we are seeking, the more effective our overall lobbying efforts will be. While it can be difficult at times to weigh the true cost-benefit of many regulations across the entire industry, the anecdotal evidence many of you can provide is a force to be reckoned with.  

If you have any questions about the representation NAFCU provides for you and your credit union on the Hill, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I worked in the U.S. House of Representatives for a member of Congress from Virginia before coming to NAFCU over 5 years ago, and it’s a pleasure representing an industry that has bipartisan appeal and is truly making an impact on communities across the country. Thank you for making my job enjoyable!

 I’d love to hear from you and learn more about your experiences. To provide additional information on the regulatory burden you and your credit union face, or talk more about what’s going on in Congress, drop me a line – jpevo@nafcu.org.

Enjoy Regulatory Compliance School!