ORLANDO, Fla. – NCUA will be ratcheting up how it defines a “small” credit union in the near future.
The asset threshold to be considered “small” by NCUA currently is $10 million. CUs below that asset size have various assistance offered to them through the agency’s Office of Small Credit Unions. But one critical benefit is an exemption from many of the questionnaires and other forms NCUA requires as part of its exam process. That issue was raised by the manager of a $13-million credit union here during an NCUA Listening Session hosted by Chairman Debbie Matz. The CU manager estimated that 70% of the questions she has had to spend considerable time answering on the NCUA questionnaire are not applicable to her credit union.
Matz said the agency will be raising the asset size that it considers to be “small,” but could not say when that increase will occur. When Matz previously served on the NCUA board the definition of small was raised to $10 million from $1 million. “We now realize $10 million is obsolete,” said Matz. “We are planning to bring up an increase at one of our board meetings in the fall.”
