League, CUs Host Federal, State Regulators at CEO Forum

Virginia’s credit unions and your League welcomed National Credit Union Administration Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman and Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions Commissioner Joe Face Jr. to an exclusive event today for CEOs from the Commonwealth’s credit unions with less than $100 million in assets.

Virginia’s credit unions and your League welcomed National Credit Union Administration Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman (pictured left) and Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions Commissioner Joe Face Jr. to an exclusive event today for CEOs from the Commonwealth’s credit unions with less than $100 million in assets.

The two regulators covered a range of topics in their opening remarks and fielded questions from the audience, including questions on CECL implementation, virtual vs. in-person exams, the length of time for credit unions to receive a final examiner report, digital assets and cryptocurrency, NCUA’s budget, and field-of-membership issues.

“As we heard today, our regulators do appreciate hearing first-hand from credit unions,” said League President/CEO Carrie Hunt. “We well know that the cost of regulation disproportionately affects smaller institutions, so the opportunity to offer our perspective on regulation and other costs -- budget increases at NCUA, for example – is useful in that we can illustrate the real-world impact on our credit unions.”

Credit unions also received updates from the League on advocacy initiatives at both the state and federal levels – with particular attention on the recent legislative fights on the Credit Card Competition Act and overdraft. League Chief Advocacy Officer JT Blau also noted growing interest from regulators related to overdraft and recent moves by the CFPB to target what it deems “junk fees.”

He noted the League’s meeting last month with CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, at which credit unions raised these issues with the director, who noted the importance of credit unions and other financial institutions having a multi-year plan to reduce “dependency” on overdraft fee revenue.

League Service Corporation Vice President David Deacon offered an overview of our key partners and the newest additions to our product and services lineup, including text messaging for member communications, a search tool for finding fintech partners, and enterprise-wide consulting services.

League partner Fiserv also offered an overview of the company’s efforts to help credit unions master the member service experience on the card services front, including new investments in technology to create the seamless member experience today’s consumers demand, especially tech-savvy younger generations.

CliftonLarsonAllen’s Pam Hemstreet and AJ Eschle provided an overview of some of the issues credit unions are beginning to face related to CECL implementation and compliance. The current expected credit loss (CECL) model aims to simplify Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and provide for more timely recognition of credit losses. The credit union industry fought fiercely against the application of the CECL standard to credit unions but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Visa’s Scott Burlingame also offered an overview of the payments space, noting the threats facing the system, including significant increases in fraud since the start of the pandemic.