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The NCUA Board Wednesday approved a proposed interagency rule clarifying that agency guidance "does not have the force of law" and does not create legally binding obligations for financial institutions. The rule was informally issued earlier this month by the federal financial regulators.

During the meeting, Chairman Rodney Hood reiterated the important distinction between regulation and guidance. In addition, Board Member Todd Harper noted that this regulation would codify the interagency statements issued by the federal financial regulators in September 2018, which stated that the agencies "do not take enforcement actions based on supervisory guidance."

The regulators are expected to issue a joint press release and the proposed rule will be submitted to the Federal Register when each involved agency has adopted the rule.

During its October meeting, the board voted to remove a request for information (RFI) on the agency's supervisory guidance and communication improvements from the agenda because it had not received each agencies' confirmation yet.

Most recently, the NCUA released a revised version of its 2020 supervisory priorities to reflect economic conditions as a result of the pandemic, as well as statutory and regulatory changes that have occurred in recent months.

The NCUA Board will next meet Nov. 19. The December meeting was rescheduled to Dec. 17.