Beginning with the Sept. 30 reporting cycle, the NCUA said Monday it will require less CUSO information from credit unions on their call reports.
Going forward, credit unions will only be required to submit aggregate CUSO loan and investment information on their call reports. All other required information is now being collected directly from CUSOs through the agency’s CUSO Registry, according to the NCUA.
The NCUA announcement was welcomed by NACUSO, CUNA and NAFCU.
Jack M Antonini, president/CEO of NACUSO, said his organization is very pleased with the NCUA’s decision to decrease the reporting burden on credit unions.
“Our concerns with the CUSO rule have been primarily related to [the] NCUA potentially stifling collaboration and innovation by placing additional burdens on both credit unions and CUSOs, when the total amount invested in CUSOs is only 22 basis points of industry assets,” Antonini said. “By relying on data collected through the CUSO Registry and relieving credit unions of the detail reporting burden, we are pleased to see the NCUA easing the reporting burden on credit unions.”
Andy Price, CUNA’s senior director of advocacy and counsel, called this regulatory relief a victory for credit unions because of the advocacy efforts of the CUNA/league system.
“After CUNA conducted extensive outreach to our members to assist the NCUA in its reform efforts, we asked the NCUA to make this change and we’re appreciative of the agency’s actions today,” he said.
NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Michael Emancipator added, “NAFCU and our members believe the change announced by [the] NCUA today is a good first step toward removing redundant information gathering on the call report but the agency should examine and adopt NAFCU’s full list of recommendations in order to provide additional relief.”
The federal agency has required CUSOs to agree to provide information directly effective June 30, 2014, and registration for the CUSO Registry was held between Feb. 1 and March 31 this year.
In May, the NCUA announced a comprehensive review of call report and credit union profile content. An agency working group has been gathering information through a public comment and review process. The NCUA has extended the reporting deadline for third-quarter call reports to Oct. 24.
In August, NAFCU sent the NCUA an extensive list of specific and actionable recommendations from its members.
NAFCU’s members recommended the federal agency leverage technology and software solutions to streamline data entry and submission on the call report, remove data fields that do not pertain to safety and soundness, host routine training and guidance on the call report for credit unions and update the call report to integrate information that credit unions already produce to help facilitate the reporting process for credit unions.
“[The] NCUA is working to make reporting easier and call reports more informative, and this is another part of that important process,” NCUA Board Chairman Rick Metsger said. “It’s also part of my continual quality improvement effort to find ways to streamline agency operations by looking at the nuts and bolts of agency operations and finding new ways, both large and small, to improve the NCUA’s processes and programs.”
The announced changes to call reports came on the fifth anniversary of the NCUA’s Regulatory Modernization Initiative. The initiative aims to strengthen the agency’s regulations to address safety and soundness risks, and streamline the agency’s rules, where possible, to reduce burdens. Since its inception, the initiative has resulted in 24 actions to cut red tape and provide lasting benefits to credit unions of all sizes.
