Regulatory Compliance Weekly Roundup: June 23, 2023

Week in Review: June 23, 2023

Happy Friday credit union people! This week your League hosted more than 40 emerging professionals in Richmond at our annual EMERGE conference. A great two days of sessions covered a wide range of topics, including communication, advocacy, networking, soft skills, and career paths. It was awesome to see the future leaders of Virginia's credit unions coming together and building their skills. Thank you to all the attendees, vendor sponsors, speakers and organizers!

Here are a few highlights of what happened this week in regulatory compliance:

NCUA

The NCUA Board held its June 2023 Board meeting this week, and League President/CEO Carrie Hunt was in attendance. The Board announced some proposed adjustments to the operating fee calculation methodology. Specifically, they are considering raising the threshold at which credit unions are exempt from paying an operating fee from $1 million in total assets to $2 million, as well as raising the threshold annually based on the growth rate of total credit union assets.

The Board was also briefed on efforts to update the new charter process. In addition to modernizing the agency's chartering process itself, they are also piloting a provisional charter program which would provide time for organizing credit unions to raise the capital they need before they become fully operational.

Finally, the Board issued proposed changes to the Minority Depository Institution (MDI) Program. The proposal reflects a number of changes to the administration of the MDI program, including its transfer to NCUA's CURE division, adding language on technical assistance, examinations, grants and loans, training and education, and more.

You can read more about the Board meeting here or watch the meeting here: 2023 June NCUA Board Meeting

Additional coverage:

• NAFCU: https://www.nafcu.org/newsroom/ncua-seeks-feedback-raising-operating-fee-exemption-threshold
• CUNA: https://news.cuna.org/articles/122677-ncua-issues-operating-fee-notice-mdi-program-update

CFPB

How the CFPB is funded has been a hot topic in recent months. We wrote last week about how the Supreme Court will hear arguments later this year on whether or not the Bureau's funding structure is constitutional.

This week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government released its FY2024 draft bill. The bill would not only fund the CFPB through the appropriations process but would change its leadership structure by creating a bipartisan, five-member commission in place of the current single director. The League has long advocated for a multi-member commission structure vs. a single director. You can read more about the appropriations bill here.

Also this week, the CFPB announced its first small business lending rule webcast, which will take place on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Staff from the Bureau's Office of Regulation will provide information from the rule to help financial institutions determine whether they are "covered" financial institutions for purposes of complying with the small business lending rule. This will include how to determine if transactions are covered credit transactions and whether businesses are "small businesses." If your credit union does member business lending, this should be a valuable resource for compliance officers, legal counsel, or others.

The event is open to all, but registration is required. To register for the event or learn more, visit the CFPB's event page here: CFPB RegCast: Institutional Coverage under the Small Business Lending Rule registration

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and stay dry out there!