WASHINGTON--The credit union trade associations scored some legislative victories Wednesday morning after the House Financial Services Committee passed several regulatory relief measures supported by both NAFCU and CUNA.
The panel passed the Regulation D Study Act (H.R. 3240) and the Access to Affordable Mortgages Act of 2014 (H.R. 5148), as well as an amendment to the Community Bank Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Study Act (H.R. 4042) — which directs the federal banking agencies to conduct a study of appropriate capital mortgage requirements for mortgage servicing assets.
However, the amendment did not—as the CU trade groups wanted -
NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz wrote a letter to committee yesterday requesting that it "refrain from considering amendments at markup related to NCUA's risk-based capital proposed rule, because this rulemaking is essential to protecting the safety and soundness of federally insured credit unions."
CUNA said it was pleased that the Regulation D Study Act and the Access to Affordable Mortgages Act of 2014 passed the House panel.
"CUNA testified before the committee and worked closely with the sponsor of the Community Bank Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Study Act, to contend that the bill gives parity to credit unions," said CUNA vice president of legislative affairs Sam Whitfield in a statement following the votes. "If enacted into law, the bill would 'stop and study' the appropriate capital requirements for mortgage servicing assets for non-systemic financial institutions."
The amendment to the Community Bank Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Study Act was approved 44-9.
The Regulation D Study Act, which was approved by voice vote, mandates that the Government Accountability Office study the impact of the Federal Reserve Board's monetary reserve requirements on depository institutions, consumers and monetary policy.
"As you are aware, Regulation D limits a credit union member's ability to transfer their money between savings and checking accounts to six transactions per month. Once a transaction is made beyond that limit, a member is either charged a fee or their savings account is re-classified as a 'transaction account,' " wrote NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler, in a letter Monday to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). "Under current Regulation D rules, savings accounts are not subject to reserve requirements, while transaction accounts are. This discrepancy tends to be confusing for credit union members and often forces credit union employees to focus their attention on the compliance issue rather than customer service."
The Access to Affordable Mortgages Act was approved 31-23 and would exempt higher-risk mortgages of $250,000 or less from appraisal requirement provisions under the Truth in Lending Act if the lender holds the loan in portfolio for at least three years, and also provides important legal safeguards for lenders acting in good faith throughout the appraisal process.
-Ray Birch contributed to this article
