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NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger met with NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman Tuesday to discuss top credit union issues and priorities, including capital-related flexibilities and rulemakings, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), and using new technologies and innovation to better serve members.

NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt and Director of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev also joined the virtual meeting. The NAFCU leaders met with NCUA Chairman Todd Harper Monday, and Tuesday's conversation with Hauptman also covered:

• capital flexibility, which the NCUA provided last month via an interim final rule (IFR) related to federally-insured credit unions' (FICUs) asset thresholds and provide some regulatory relief as credit unions have seen a large influx of deposits over the past year;
• additional investment authorities, which NAFCU has advocated for to help credit unions manage share growth;
• additional ways for the NCUA to provide credit unions with relief, including by reinstating an IFR to provide prompt corrective action (PCA) flexibility; and
• further revising its risk-based capital rule as the agency works to create a modern capital regime for credit unions, including by permanently grandfathering "excluded goodwill" and "excluded other tangible assets" in the RBC calculation.

On the NCUSIF, while Harper has indicated the NCUA is continuing to evaluate whether a premium will need to be assessed this year and has asked Congress for statutory changes to alter the agency's management of the fund, NAFCU has consistently opposed both these efforts and reiterated its stance to Hauptman during Tuesday's meeting.

NAFCU and Hauptman also discussed his recent comments on the NCUA possibly providing guidance around the custody of digital assets and the use of stablecoins for payments, similar to the actions of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to support innovation in faster payments.

Expanding on that, the meeting explored broader innovation and fintech. NCUA and other federal financial regulators are currently seeking feedback on financial institutions' use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and NAFCU is currently leading efforts with policymakers to ensure fintech banks operate on a level playing field with credit unions.

NAFCU will maintain its strong working relationship with the NCUA to ensure credit unions have the regulatory environment needed to effectively serve their members.