• Regulatory Advocacy Reports
• Comment Calls
• Comment Letters
• Final Rule Analyses
• NCUA Board Meetings
• Regulatory Advocacy Podcasts
• Additional Resources
• Regulatory Advocacy Home

CUNA Regulatory Comment Call

December 4, 2002

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• This proposed Interpretive Ruling and Policy Statement (IRPS 02-4) would amend the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) provisions of IRPS 87-2. IRPS 87-2 can be found on NCUA’s website at the following Internet address: http://www.ncua.gov/ref/IRPS/IRPS87-2.html. The RFA’s provisions require federal agencies to prepare an analysis to describe the impact of proposed and final rules on small entities. For each proposed rule that will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, the analysis must describe the impact of the proposal as well as a description of any significant alternatives to the rule that minimize the impact. IRPS 02-4 would define a small credit union as one that has less than $10 million dollars in assets, as opposed to the threshold in IRPS 87-2 of less than $1 million in assets. Chairman Dollar stated that this revision would not affect the definition of small credit union in terms of eligibility requirements for NCUA’s Small Credit Union Program (SCUP) – a credit union with assets of $5 million or less.
• The proposed definition of small credit union is consistent with recent statutes and NCUA regulations providing regulatory compliance relief. The Credit Union Membership Access Act (CUMAA) requires credit unions to follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), but exempted credit unions with less than $10 million in assets. CUMAA also requires NCUA to provide “small credit unions”, defined as those under $10 million in assets, with special assistance in meeting prompt corrective action (PCA) requirements. NCUA regulations provide that federally insured credit unions with less than $10 million in assets may file a short Call Report in the spring and fall.
• NCUA believes that the current definition of small credit union, which was adopted in 1981 is now outdated. The RFA’s legislative history indicates that small entities need special consideration because they cannot absorb the impact of additional regulation as well as large entities. A credit union with $10 million in assets employs on average approximately 5 times more staff than does a credit union with $1 million in assets. Part of this additional staffing may be available to perform compliance oversight and absorb incremental compliance burdens. Further, this threshold increase would return the percentage of federally insured credit unions considered to be small to a percentage (52%) much closer to the percentage captured by the size standard first adopted in 1981 (63%).
• Another provision would be added to IRPS 87-2 stating that NCUA will review all existing rules every three years and that the public will receive notice of the rules that will be subject to review. The NCUA Board feels it is important that credit unions have the opportunity to consider the rules undergoing review and provide input while NCUA is conducting its review.
• Comments are due to NCUA by February 3, 2003. Responses can be sent directly to NCUA and should be directed to Becky Baker, Secretary to the NCUA Board, National Credit Union Administration, 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3428. Comments may be faxed to NCUA at (703) 837-2914 or e-mailed to regcomments@ncua.gov. (Please send comments by one method only.) Please send your comments to CUNA by January 24, 2003. Please feel free to fax your responses to CUNA at 202-638-7052; e-mail them to Associate General Counsel Mary Dunn at mdunn@cuna.com or to Senior Regulatory Counsel Catherine Orr at corr@cuna.com; or mail them to Mary or Catherine in c/o CUNA's Regulatory Advocacy Department, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 6th Floor - South Building, Washington, DC 20004.
• You may obtain a copy of the proposed IRPS here.

1. Do you support increasing the threshold for the definition of small credit union to mean a credit union with less than $10 million in assets?
   
   Yes ______ No ______
   
   Please explain why or why not.
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   
2. Are there other contexts in which you believe the definition of small credit union should be changed?
   
   Yes ______ No ______
   
   If so, what are those contexts?
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   
3. Do you support the proposed provision for NCUA to provide notice of the portion of the existing agency rules under review every year so the public may have an opportunity to comment?
   
   Yes ______ No ______
   
   Please explain.
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   
4. Do you have any additional suggestions with regard to NCUA’s rolling review to identify one-third of existing agency regulations for review each year?
   
   Yes ______ No ______
   
   If so, what are those suggestions?
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   
5. Other comments?
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---

   
   
   

   ---