WASHINGTON — NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz shared her efforts to update and modernize the regulator Monday during her general session address at CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference.

“Some risks are always there. Others arise with new realities. But either way, being the best of a time that's passed is not good enough,” she said.

Matz said the NCUA has evolved in two primary areas: people and policies. Since 2009, 75% of the NCUA's offices have new directors, she said, and 40% of the regulator's examiners have been on the job less than five yea

Also from 2013 GAC:

Feb. 26, 2013 Day 2 Slide Show: Speechifying and Gavel Passing
Feb. 26, 2013 NCUF Gets $135,000 Gift From CUNA Mutual
Feb. 26, 2013 Bachus Says Congress May Revisit Durbin, Dodd-Frank
Feb. 26, 2013 Hensarling Stands by Tax Exemption
Feb. 26, 2013 Day 1 Slide Show: Brokaw, Chatzky and Award Winners
Feb. 26, 2013 Kids Add Zing to Wegner Award Winners
Feb. 25, 2013 Tom Brokaw Promotes Public Service Academies
Feb. 25, 2013 Chip Filson Announces NCUA Board Bid, Petition Drive
Feb. 25, 2013 CUNA Mutual Debuts AskAuto App at GAC
Feb. 25, 2013 CUNA Survey Shows Room for Exam Improvement
On Video: Shell Geismar CEO Has Tech Tools on His GAC Agenda
On Video: Arizona State SVP Has Washington on His Mind
On Video: Flying Freeborn to DC for GAC
On Video: Halleck and Hiking the Hill
On Video: Muniz's Message to Washington
Not for CEOs: Successful Succession Topic of GAC Talk

The chairman also touted the agency's recent regulatory modernization initiatives, including a reallocation of exam resources that streamline exams for small credit unions while focusing on larger credit unions that, by nature of their asset size, could create larger losses for the share insurance fund in the event of a failure.

The NCUA has also responded to today's environment by expanding the range of video tellers, allowing larger fleets for member business loans, and extending permissible maturities for loan modifications, Matz said.

And, she said, when the NCUA made public portions of its National Supervision Policy Manual, it became the only financial services regulator to release an internal operations document.

“That's real transparency,” she said.

Matz said she also advocated for a proposed rule, currently under development by NCUA staff, to allow credit unions to use derivatives to hedge against interest rate risk.

“As you know, derivatives can be extremely complex, and many can be very risky. So it would be easy for us to 'just say no',” she said. “Instead, I told my staff, 'NCUA cannot hold credit unions back'. We cannot say no to an activity or product like derivatives simply because we have not permitted it in the past.”

Instant Insights /

Onsite Coverage: Matz Praises NCUA&rsquo;s Ability to Change with Times

Related Stories

Recommended For You

Onsite Coverage: Matz Praises NCUA’s Ability to Change with Times