The National Credit Union Administration board today approved two minor regulatory measures during its monthly open board meeting.
The first, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, pertains to Part 701, Appendix A, of the Federal Credit Union Bylaws. The board approved the ANPR with the intention of streamlining, clarifying and improving FCU bylaws, a move recommended by the agency’s Regulatory Reform Task Force in response to the high number of changes that have taken place in the industry within the last decade. The last time NCUA revised the bylaws was in 2007.
The Federal Credit Union Act requires NCUA to maintain a standard set of bylaws for institutions – generally those in the process of incorporating – that do not currently have a set of their own.
The agency is asking credit uniosn to comment on five specific questions:
· How can the federal credit union bylaws amendment process be improved?
· How can the NCUA Board clarify the bylaws provisions addressing limitation of service and expulsion of members?
· How can the NCUA Board improve the bylaws to facilitate the recruitment and development of directors?
· How can the NCUA Board improve the bylaws to encourage member attendance at annual and special meetings?
· Should the NCUA Board eliminate overlaps between the agency’s regulations and the bylaws?
The board has asked credit union stakeholders requesting specific changes to the standard bylaws to provide a brief statement regarding whether the FCU Act would permit such a change. Some elements of the standard bylaws are drawn directly from the law and, as such, cannot be amended, the agency reminded.
The ANPR is
The board also unanimously approved a request for comment on proposed suspension and debarment procedures for vendors.
“The NCUA is not required to follow federal government acquisition laws and regulations, but the agency believes those include best practices, and suspension and debarment procedures have proven to be an important part of government procurement. These procedures would protect the agency by helping ensure the NCUA and other executive-branch agencies do business only with presently responsible contractors,” NCUA said in a statement.
The full proposal can be
