A new letter from the federal regulator of credit unions offers a quick summary of last week’s temporary rule changes for credit unions’ occupancy and disposal of acquired and abandoned premises, purchase of eligible obligations, and loan participations, as well as other flexibility that is available related to supervisory committee audits, call report deadlines, and corporate governance measures.
The temporary relief measures approved last week by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board will be effective through Dec. 31, 2020. Besides summarizing these measures, reported here last Thursday and slated for publication soon in the Federal Register, the letter also reminds of the board’s change last September in the agency’s rules on supervisory committee audits and a more recent decision on call report filing deadlines.
The letter (20-CU-09) notes that the NCUA Board in September removed the 120-day time frame required to deliver an audit report, leaving the decision of timing to credit unions and their accounting professionals. In addition, the agency more recently joined banking regulators in providing those financial institutions needing it an extra 30 days to file first-quarter call reports. “The NCUA will not take action against any credit union for submitting the March 31, 2020, Call Report after the respective filing deadline as long as the report is submitted within 30 days of the official file date of Sunday, April 26, 2020,” the letter states. “State-chartered credit unions should contact their respective state regulator in addition to notifying the NCUA.”
The letter also notes that regulatory requirements on corporate governance are not being waived, but it states that the NCUA “will not take exception to policy changes that are made in the long-term best interests of a credit union and its members.” It notes that credit unions may need to make exceptions to their policies to assist members affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and that the agency generally will not criticize those exceptions “provided they are reasonable and do not violate the Federal Credit Union Act.”
RR: Credit union regulator adopts temporary reg relief, appraisal relief amid COVID-19; appraisal threshold raised to $400k (April 16, 2020)