WASHINGTON — Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry on Monday urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would extend the on-site examination cycle for small banks from twelve months to eighteen.
"We think a greater number of healthy well-managed community institutions ought to qualify for the eighteen month examination cycle," Curry said in remarks at an Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act meeting in Chicago.
Sound familiar? NAFCU, the Cooperative CU Association and others have called on NCUA to
The difference: at least one bank regulatory is in favor of the move, while NCUA has
With regard to bank regulators, the House passed a bill earlier this month that would double the threshold for qualifying for an eighteen month examination cycle for institutions with less than $1 billion of assets.
"I am pleased that the House voted earlier this month to raise the asset thresholds to $1 billion and I am hopeful the Senate will follow," Curry said. "It would not only reduce the burden for those well-managed institutions, it would allow us, the federal banking agencies to focus our supervisory resources on those banks and thrifts that present capital, managerial, or other issues of significant supervisory concern."
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that there are between 500 and 600 institutions that would be eligible for the expended on-site exam cycle if the threshold was raised to $1 billion.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby has also introduced a regulatory relief bill that would increase the eligibility for less frequent on-site exams from $500 million to $1 billion.
Separately, Curry said that exempting banks with less than $10 billion in assets from the Volker Rule is also "ripe for congressional action."
"We do not believe it is necessary to include smaller institutions under the Volker Rule in order to realize Congressional intent and we recommend exempting the more than 6000 banks and thrifts with less than $10 billion in assets," Curry said.
