Compliance Blog

Written by Brad Thaler, Vice President of Legislative Affairs

I know that the compliance community is well aware of the ever-increasing regulatory burden credit unions face in a post Dodd-Frank world.  Last week, NAFCU told the Senate Banking Committee about this burden and our ideas for regulatory relief when NAFCU’s Board Chairman and SRP FCU President/CEO Ed Templeton testified Thursday before the committee at one of two hearings examining “Regulatory Relief for Community Banks and Credit Unions.”  Last Tuesday, the Committee also heard from financial regulators, including NCUA.

Now the Senate Banking Committee wants to hear from you.  They have asked NAFCU to gather stories and letters from individual credit unions about the regulatory burdens you face and ideas for where and how your credit union needs relief.  It is with this in mind that I am asking for your input.

Are there particular statutes or regulations that are especially burdensome on your institution and your ability to serve your members?  Are there some that just seem out of date? How should they be changed?  What has the impact been on your institution?  Are there examples of regulatory cost/time estimates that your institution finds are off-kilter?  (You can view NAFCU’s Top Ten Regulations to Eliminate or Amend and our new Five-Point Plan for Credit Union Regulatory Relief if you need some ideas.)

If your credit union is interested in sharing your regulatory burden stories or regulatory relief ideas with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, please reach out to me at bthaler@nafcu.org, and I will walk you through the submission steps.

The Committee’s ultimate goal is to take your suggestions and craft a common-sense regulatory relief package, which they hope to bring to the Senate floor this spring.  The Committee hopes to get comments as soon as possible, so I ask that you try to get us any letters by Thursday, February 26^th.  Please reach out to me, directly with any questions (bthaler@nafcu.org or 703-842-2204).   

Staying on the topic of providing feedback on regulatory review, the hearings last week also had a lot of discussion about the EGRPRA process.  The Committee noted that EGRPRA provides a lot of important insight on areas that regulators need to act and can also give Congress reform ideas.  It is with this in mind that I also want to encourage everyone to submit your comments on NAFCU’s Regulatory Alert 15-EA-03 on NCUA’s second EGRPRA review. Comments are also due to NAFCU on February 26^th.  You can complete our Regulatory Survey, or reach out to Alicia Nealon, NAFCU’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, directly (anealon@nafcu.org, 703-842-2266) with your thoughts. 

Thanks in advance for your participation in this process.

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NAFCU Webcast. Regulation Z: Five Challenges and Their Solutions - Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) may be the oldest federal consumer credit law, but it can still be challenging to heed. Make sure you’re not overlooking its fundamental principles with a NAFCU webcast that dives into TILA’s five core issues, and examines how best to address them.  This important knowledge is just as important as staying up-to-date on the Act’s latest changes.