Our Position
We strongly support credit union MBL and have testified before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees stressing the importance of this issue. NAFCU continues to advocate for removal of the MBL cap or modifications to the MBL cap, such as raising the minimum loan amount that would count against the MBL cap. NAFCU also continues to support increased statutory flexibility for maturity limits on MBL for credit unions. We applaud Congress for strengthening MBL with the passage of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S.2155), but there is more that can be done.
Credit unions have the capital to help small businesses thrive, but they are held back by the outdated MBL cap. Under the Federal Credit Union Act, a credit union's aggregate MBL is effectively capped at 12.25 percent of assets. Further modifications or removal of the cap would help provide economic stimulus without costing taxpayers, which is why the issue has bipartisan support in Congress. Furthermore, officials at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) have expressed support for lifting the MBL cap. Several outside groups from all sides of the political spectrum have also endorsed legislation to modernize MBL, including the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).