WASHINGTON – NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson is expected to testify next week along with banking regulators before the Senate Banking Committee on the dire condition of the financial services industry.
The hearing, scheduled for next Tuesday, will review the impact of the subprime mortgage market crisis on various lenders and the impact of the mortgage crisis on the availability of credit, sources told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. The panel is also expected to review foreclosure mitigation efforts, systemic risk, transparency, risk management techniques
The hearing comes as credit unions, banks and thrifts are reporting massive losses for the just-completed fourth quarter, some of the worst in decades. NCUA reported last week that credit unions profitability sunk to just 0.35% return-on-assets for the fourth quarter, its lowest in decades, while dozens of credit unions were reporting growing losses for the period and for the year.
Regulators for banks and thrifts reported similar trends.
The hearing is scheduled two days before a hearing in the House Financial Services Committee discussing regulatory relief for credit unions and CURIA.
