March 19, 2013
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito, Chairman
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
House Financial Services Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
House Financial Services Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Re: Regulatory Relief for Credit Unions in the 113th Congress
Dear Chairman Capito and Ranking Member Meeks:
On behalf of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU), the only trade association that exclusively represents the interests of our nation’s federal credit unions, I write today in conjunction with tomorrow’s hearing, “State of Community Banking: Is the Current Regulatory Environment Adversely Affecting Community Financial Institutions?” NAFCU member credit unions and their 95 million member-owners appreciate the committee’s timely focus on regulatory relief for community based financial institutions.
As you know, all community based financial services institutions, including credit unions, are struggling under an ever-increasing regulatory burden in the wake of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act [P.L.111-203]. The impact of this growing compliance burden is evident as the number of credit unions continues to decline, dropping by more than 700 institutions since 2009. Credit unions didn’t cause the financial crisis and shouldn’t be caught in the crosshairs of regulations aimed at those entities that did. Unfortunately, that has not been the case thus far. Accordingly, finding ways to cut-down on burdensome and unnecessary regulatory compliance costs is a chief priority of our members. We hope it will also be a priority of the Subcommittee.
Regulatory relief is critical to the survival of credit unions and, as outlined in the attached letter NAFCU sent to the Committee on February 12th, there are several areas where Congress can act to reduce the overwhelming burden credit unions face. We look forward to working with you and your staff to ensure that the views of credit unions are conveyed and that the proposals outlined in the attached letter are given due consideration during the 113th Congress.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. If you have any questions or would like further information about any of these issues, please do not hesitate to contact me or NAFCU’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler by telephone at (703) 842-2204 or by e-mail at bthaler@nafcu.org.
Sincerely,
Fred R. Becker, Jr.
President and CEO
cc: Members of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit