Oxley Asks CUs to Focus on Reg Relief

WASHINGTON-While acknowledging credit unions' interest in moving the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley (R-Ohio) told credit unions that right now is the time to push for regulatory relief legislation. "The Credit Union National Association is one of the strongest grassroots organizations I have ever dealt with," he said. There is "a great deal" in the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 3505) for credit unions, Oxley added, encouraging them to focus on this broader bill right now as it begins to move. He explained that it passed his committee unanimously already and he hopes to get the bill to the floor early in March. "We need to send a strong signal to the Senate that this is the time and the Congress to get this done," the chairman said. Oxley announced that he will retire once his term is up at the end of 2006 and told reporters after his remarks that he would like to make regulatory relief part of his legacy for credit unions. He also said that the prospects for NCUA's risk-based capital reform to make it into the reg relief bill was "up to the Senate." The Senate Banking Committee had scheduled a hearing on the potential provisions for the Senate bill last Wednesday. CUNA had a table set up at its GAC with `Credit Unions for Reg Relief' stickers for attendees to wear during their visits on Capitol Hill.