NASCUS Pushes for Five-Member NCUA Board in CHOICE Act

NASCUS Pushes for Five-Member NCUA Board in CHOICE Act
April 24, 2017 Marketing GrafWebCUSO

NASCUS will continue to press House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) to propose expanding the NCUA board from three to five members as part of his massive overhaul of the Dodd-Frank Act, association president Lucy Ito said Monday.

In the version of the Financial CHOICE Act that the Financial Services panel approved last year, Hensarling proposed expanding the number of board members to five.

However, in his latest draft of the bill, Hensarling proposed retaining the three-member board.

NASCUS still favors the five-member board, particularly if it includes as requirement that one member have experience regulating credit unions at the state level.

“We believe that having more voices at the NCUA table…would enhance the board’s deliberative process, expand its collective expertise, and improve the efficient administration of NCUA business,” Ito said.

She added that is particularly important since state credit union assets represent about half of the assets of federally insured credit unions.

Ito said that even if the number of board members is not expanded, NASCUS will continue to push for a requirement that one member of the board have experience supervising credit unions at the state level.

Ito said that NASCUS is pleased that Hensarling’s latest draft includes more transparency for NCUA spending—in particular the Overhead Transfer Rate.

She said that would help determine whether agency funds spent should come from the share insurance fund.