Promise in the NCUA’s New Priorities
Last month, following Pres. Trump’s appointment of him as the new Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board, Kyle Hauptman released a list of eight priorities that, as he put it, will “create a regulatory structure that promotes growth, opportunity and innovation within the credit union system.”
While the priorities are broad in scope and a bit vague, several phrases caught my eye, including a commitment to “true financial inclusion,” addressing the pain points of small credit unions, reassessing policies that “dissuade credit unions from serving low-income areas” and a general mention of removing regulatory barriers. While I’m not expecting overnight changes, I do think these priorities offer a glimpse into an agenda that may be cause for optimism from our movement.
For instance, it’s great to see Hauptman focus on the compliance challenges that have led to an environment that many small credit union leaders feel is unsustainable. Small-asset credit unions are integral to the health of their communities, and Hauptman singling them out demonstrates a thoughtful intent to preserve their ongoing success.
Similarly, highlighting financial inclusion and calling out a need for credit unions to viably exist in low-income areas is both refreshing and necessary. And putting forth a plan to reassess policies that discourage that need, such as language around overdraft practices, is an important step toward ensuring credit unions can continue to support those who need us most.
Elsewhere in Hauptman’s list of priorities, he mentions an interest in embracing artificial intelligence to enhance agency productivity. While I’m happy to see a forward-looking approach that could lead to long-term improvements in NCUA operations, I’m interested in further clarification on how exactly any and all new implementations like this will affect credit unions.
As my readers know all too well, the heavy regulatory burden that our movement operates under, while well-intentioned, continues to be Michigan credit unions’ biggest source of unnecessary day-to-day obstacles. Hauptman has historically shown an understanding of the credit union mission and I think it’s reasonable to interpret these recent comments as a willingness to make that mission more achievable.
I am encouraged by the potential here. However, it’s going to be on us as a movement to work with Hauptman and his office during our advocacy opportunities to help shape and build on these priorities. The first thing we can do is define for him what they mean to us — what exactly the pain points of Michigan’s small credit unions are or what “true financial inclusion” actually means to us — so we can maximize their impact, going forward.
MCUL’s advocacy team and I will be working with Hauptman this year to make sure these priorities are clearly defined and align with our shared mission to position credit unions to best provide for their members.
In addition, we will also continue supporting America’s Credit Unions (ACU) in advocating for the NCUA to remain an independent regulator for credit unions, especially amid increasing agency consolidations. ACU CEO Jim Nussle emphasized this in a recent letter to the Department of Government Efficiencies (DOGE), warning that merging the NCUA into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would not only increase regulatory burdens on credit unions but also compromise the operational structure of our movement.
Thanks for reading.
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