New accounting standards proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board include a requirement to value whole loans using fair value requirements, like those currently used by corporates to value distressed mortgage-backed securities.

However, Scott Waite, chief financial officer of Patelco Credit Union who also occupies a FASB committee seat, said no decision is expected "anytime soon" on the issue. Furthermore, he said, even if the proposed standards are adopted, the NCUA already has the authority to allow credit unions to report whole loans using amortized cost.

The fair value for whole loans requirement is aimed at banks that treat loan portfolios like marketable securities, Waite said. Conversely, when credit unions hold loans in portfolio, they do so as part of a long-term cash flow strategy.

Financial services regulators aren't "joined at the hip" with GAAP accounting requirements, he said. In particular, standards that aim to provide Wall Street investors with an apples-to-apples financial comparison also aren't expected of regulators.

"For example, GAAP would have allowed corporate credit unions to operate with negative earnings," he said. "The regulator might not want to do that, and that's well within their rights. And it's my job to define with GAAP and regulation is not one in the same."

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