ALEXANDRIA, Va. — At NCUA's final board meeting of 2014, Chairman Debbie Matz announced the formation of two working groups, one focused on field-of-membership issues and the other on supplemental capital.
Matz' announcement of the new working groups drew quick applause from two of the major credit union trade groups. CUNA President and Chief Executive Jim Nussle said in a statement Thursday that the groups were "a very significant development," adding CUNA has urged NCUA to add a supplemental capital provision to the risk-based capital regulation it is scheduled to make public Jan. 15.
NAFCU General Counsel Carrie Hunt also praised the move, noting her group had lobbied NCUA to develop a process that would permit low-income credit unions to access secondary capital sources.
Matz said also NCUA has received numerous comments on member business lending and is reviewing them as it prepares to update its rules governing business loans next year.
In other business, the agency approved a $4.1 million budget for its Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund in 2015 and announced it is forming working groups on field of membership issues and . About $1 million of the budgeted funds will pay salary and benefits for the five employees who administer the fund, which was created in 2009 to pay costs associated with the corporate credit union crisis. The largest line item, about $3 million, is earmarked for contract services.
Overall, the budget is 8% less than the 2014 spending plan.
"The stabilization fund has prevented more than $40 billion of potential losses at a cost of $40 million," NCUA chairman Debbie Matz said Thursday, following the 3-0 vote. "That's a pretty good return on investment. We are managing more than $22 billion in complex securities and legacy assets with just five full-time employees."
According to NCUA, credit unions have paid $4.8 billion into the fund, but no additional assessments are anticipated in 2015. The budget will not be charged to credit unions, since it is paid out of the stabilization fund.
