CU trades to NCUA: Update field of membership rules

The NCUA should amend its field of membership (FOM) rules to make it easier for people to join credit unions and help those institutions grow, the two national industry trade groups told the agency this week.

“CUNA strongly believes that all consumers have the right to improve their financial well-being through the services of not-for-profit financial cooperatives,” Luke Martone, CUNA’s senior director of advocacy, told the NCUA. “To that end, credit union boards of directors must have significant flexibility to determine their fields of membership to enhance safety, soundness, and service.”

Ann Petros, vice president of regulatory affairs at NAFCU, was on the same page, telling the NCUA, “Although legislation is necessary to amend portions of the FCU Act’s limitations on chartering, the credit union industry as a whole will benefit from the continued modernization of the NCUA’s chartering and FOM procedures, as well as removing all non-statutory constraints on FOM chartering and expansion.”

The comments come from detailed letters the two groups submitted to the agency as part of the NCUA’s regulatory review process. Each year, the agency solicits comments on one-third of its rules. This year, the agency’s list included FOM rules and several other regulations.

 

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