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NCUA Board Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman Tuesday spoke at NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus on topics including transparency in communication, the regulatory battleground, cryptocurrency, and more.

During his remarks, Hauptman stressed the importance of clear communication; and he expressed the benefits of recording internal meetings for future reference to ensure key details are not missed. Hauptman said that this action will help improve the ability to communicate common issues to agencies. In addition, he highlighted the NCUA’s updated feedback survey process for users and exam-takers and its role in identifying important areas in which the agency can help in the future.  

“I implore you, when you have your exit interview, record it. If you have anyone joining you via teams or zoom, utilize it,” stated Hauptman. “Policy is being made by non-users of these issues.” 

On the topic of cryptocurrency and blockchain, Hauptman emphasized that there remain opportunities for credit unions to break into the sector, and offered potential methods to prepare credit unions to step into the future development of digital assets. “We are in the ‘ambiguity reduction’ business,” Hauptman explained.  

According to the agency’s spring rulemaking agenda, the NCUA plans to propose a final rule on decentralized finance and digital assets as they relate to the credit union industry. For more information, NAFCU’s Digital Assets Working Group meets regularly to discuss digital assets updates.  

Following his remarks, NAFCU’s Regulatory Committee met with Hauptman to ask questions on the NCUA’s plans regarding digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT), FedNow, Regulation E, and more. After, NAFCU and a group of credit union members held a panel on the implementation of the current expected credit loss (CECL) methodology. During the panel, the group asked FASB project manager Dan Stuhlemmer to highlight experiences from financial institutions who have already adopted the methodology, and NCUA Acting Chief Accountant Chris McGrath to discuss post-implementation exam expectations and to clarify details about the new CECL template that the NCUA plans to roll out very soon. 

Dozens of lawmakers, administration officials, and regulators attended this year's NAFCU Congressional Caucus, which ends today. Find coverage in NAFCU Today and on Twitter with #NAFCUCaucus.