Lack of Accountability

Credit unions insist they are different than banks, and they are: they are less regulated. They hide behind the veil of their proud history as financial service providers to at-risk communities, and avoid rigorous regulatory oversight. Inadequate reporting standards have shielded the credit union industry from scrutiny.

Expert Views

Josh Silver, National Community Reinvestment Coalition

The Community Reinvestment Act should be expanded to cover credit unions, other nonbank lenders and insurers, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Noting the growing share of nonbanks and credit unions in mortgage lending, NCRC Senior Policy Adviser Josh Silver argued that if nonbanks remain outside of CRA, “the competitive position of banks eventually will be undermined to the detriment of access to safe and sound credit and capital for LMI communities.”

— National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 2020

Todd Harper, Then-NCUA Board Member and Current NCUA Chairman

“Why should it take complex, federally insured credit unions with $500 million or more in assets seven or eight years longer to implement their comparable risk-based capital rule than it took for banks and thrifts to implement theirs? That’s an uneven regulatory playing field.”

— National Credit Union Administration, 2019

Recent News and Insights

news

August 9, 2022

Mission Accomplished? Delaware Credit Union’s Actions Highlight Need for Consumer Compliance Exams and Additional Reforms

insights

May 23, 2022

For Profit, Not People? At Four Large Minnesota Credit Unions … You Betcha

Four Minnesota credit unions are banding together to create a credit union service organization (CUSO) that would allow the multibillion-dollar financial institutions to make commercial business loans up to $50 million – ten times more than what they’re currently able to do on their own.

insights

November 15, 2021

NCUA’s Proposed Rule is Clear: Principles are for Other People

The relentless push by credit unions to evade meaningful regulation under the Federal Credit Union Act has reached new heights of absurdity with the latest proposed rule before the National Credit Union Administration.