Credit unions with assets of over $10 billion shouldn't have to contribute to the fund aimed at bailing out financial institutions deemed too big to fail, CUNA and NAFCU wrote the chairman and ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee.
"We certainly hope you agree that credit unions shouldn't have to bail out large banks!" NAFCU President Fred Becker hand wrote at the bottom of the letter he sent to Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).
In the letter, Becker writes that not excluding credit unions from having to finance the proposed Systemic Resolution Fund run by the FDIC would cause NAFCU to oppose the legislation.
Imposing such an assessment would "essentially amount to tax on members of these covered credit unions, while over covered entities would have their shareholders to cover the cost," he wrote.
CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica wrote that credit unions shouldn't be covered because "credit unions do not pose a systemic risk to the financial system, and therefore should not be entangled in this legislation." He noted that that the NCUSIF is capable of resolving troubled credit unions.
Becker also urged the lawmakers to add a representative of the NCUA to the proposed Systemic Risk Oversight Council.
Frank's committee is considering an overhaul of the way systemic risk is regulated as part of its effort to restructure the way financial services are regulated.
