ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Although the result was highly anticipated, there was still some relief after the NCUAboard voted to remove the 5% threshold on fixed asset investmentsfor credit unions.

Removing the aggregate limit on fixed assets was one of thethree items voted on in Thursday's board meeting; the other itemswere including a $1.3 million reduction in the 2015 budget and a final ruleamending the agency's capital planning and stress testing rule toset new deadlines.

In addition to eliminating the fixed asset cap, the final rulesimplifies partial occupancy requirements for federal credit unionpremises acquired for future expansion. The final rule will becomeeffective 60 days after it's published in the Federal Register.

“This final rule is another significant milestone in our year ofregulatory relief,” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. “Thisfinal rule removes outdated regulatory limits, cuts unnecessarypaperwork and provides credit unions with well-deserved freedom tomake their own decisions.

“As soon as this final rule takes effect, federal creditunion boards of directors will have the freedom to prudently maketheir own decisions about the appropriate level of fixed assets tohold,” she continued. “Then decisions to upgrade facilities, updatetechnology and purchase other fixed assets will be made by creditunion management without regulatory micro-management.”

CUNA also sounded off on the unanimous vote to remove theaggregate limit.

“We're pleased the NCUA board listened to CUNA and credit unionsby removing the 5% fixed asset threshold,” President/CEO Jim Nusslesaid. “CUNA has long advocated for this change, which will allowcredit unions more flexibility in deploying resources to benefittheir members. However, we will not have a complete picture of thetrue regulatory relief until the NCUA provides credit unions withguidance.”

NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger said NAFCU also strongly supportsthe final rule, calling it much-needed regulatory relief.

“Federal credit unions deserve the flexibility to manage theirinvestment in fixed assets independently, and we applaud the NCUAfor amending its regulations to allow such flexibility while stillmaintaining a safe and sound system,” Berger said.

The board also unanimously approved a final rule amending theregulation that governs capital planning and stress testing forfederally insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion ormore. According to the NCUA, the final rule adopts new annualdeadlines for the stress testing and capital planning annual cycle.Credit unions will have until May 31, instead of the formerdeadline of Feb. 28, to submit capital plans to the agency, and theNCUA will have until Aug. 31 to provide stress testing results tocovered credit unions and accept or reject their capital plans.

At the meeting, the NCUA also noted that performance reviews ofthe legacy assets of five failed corporate credit unions and theNCUA Guaranteed Notes program indicated that future CorporateStabilization Fund assessments are unlikely.

“We have come a long way since 2009, when corporate creditunions were holding toxic assets that had lost $33 billion, morethan half their market value,” Matz said. “If those losses hadcascaded through the Share Insurance Fund, nearly 2,000 creditunions could have failed. Today, the worst is behind us. TheStabilization Fund has recorded four straight quarters of positivenet position, and the NCUA Guaranteed Notes' performance continuesto improve.”

Nussle said he hoped this would also mean a refund in comingyears after the NCUA said there is a projected surplus of $700million to $2.5 billion once the Stabilization Fund expires.

“It is also good news for credit unions that the NCUA confirmedtoday what CUNA has long been saying: There will be nostabilization fund assessment for 2015 and there is an increasinglikelihood for a refund in 2021,” Nussle said.