WASHINGTON — The laundry list of priority issues for America's Community Bankers in 2007 might at first glance look like CUNA's or NAFCU's.
Regulatory relief, data security, risk-based capital standards, etc. can be counted among them. Under regulatory burden relief items are a number of things credit unions would like, including reducing Bank Secrecy Act/USA PATRIOT Act compliance burdens, increasing business and agricultural lending authorities, and not requiring annual privacy notices for institutions that do not share information with other organizations. ACB is seeking a national standard for data security including notification and liability for those who caused the breach. But their credit union regulation and taxation section stands in stark contrast to credit unions. "ACB believes that credit unions that do not derive the majority of their income from providing loans and deposit services to persons of modest means should lose their federal tax exemption," ACB's 2007 Priority Issues brochure states. "Until bank-like credit unions pay taxes and comply with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) should stop liberalizing its field of membership rules," according to ACB's Policy Positions booklet. "The NCUA also should prohibit further expansion into commercial banking servings in a manner that falls outside the scope of the credit union charter."
In addition, ACB said in the brochure that each of NCUA's revisions to its conversion rules over the last few years "present unnecessary hurdles for converting to a mutual savings bank." It added that they support legislation to prevent NCUA's "bureaucratic roadblocks" to "lawful credit union conversions." During the ACB's Government Affairs Conference last week, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said he would like to see NCUA's latest regulation in action before he introduces legislation again.
Other ACB priorities include:
oStrengthen the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while emphasizing their secondary market nature;
oEstablish a new independent regulator for the housing government sponsored enterprises;
oDevelop a "workable" risk-based capital framework;
oPermit banks to use alternative mortgage products to serve customer needs with appropriate underwriting; and
oReform the National Flood Insurance Program to maintain flood insurance and mitigate severe repetitive loss properties. –scooke@cutimes.com
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.