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The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) conducted an extensive investigation regarding an anonymous allegation received relating to expenditures of the NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters. The report is available on the NCUA’s website at the following link: Report of Investigation No. 18-01 J. Mark McWatters, May 14, 2018 (opens new window).

As noted in the most recent OIG Semiannual Report to Congress, the OIG investigation found Chairman McWatters had not violated any laws.

In accordance with OIG standard procedures applied to all investigations, the findings were provided to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia during the second quarter of 2018. The attorney’s office advised the OIG the findings did not warrant the pursuit of any additional action.

The OIG report alleges excess spending on the part of the Chairman’s Office, which is a subjective standard. In matters of opinion expressed within the OIG report, reasonable minds may disagree, which is the case. The objective criteria to be applied included compliance with law, which the OIG has stated were not violated.

The OIG report did not benchmark the various types of listed expenses to other agencies and therefore, did not note the expenditures for meals and transportation services compare favorably to the way similar business is conducted at other agencies. For example, most agencies have full-time dedicated drivers and cars, with some having fleets, dedicated to transporting the executives. The costs for this type of structure far exceed any cost the NCUA has incurred for car services. Senior officials holding business meetings over meals is considered a regular course of operation for many agencies. In some of these agencies, it includes dedicated dining facilities and staffed cafeteria services, which the NCUA does not have. From a cost comparison and efficiency perspective, the NCUA would compare very favorably.

The Office of the Executive Director determined that NCUA’s internal travel and representation expense policies were inconsistent, and needed further clarification, as outlined in the enclosed documents. Also, the claims for reimbursement were within the parameters of agency policy.

We are providing five documents that supplement the record. They include:

Enclosure A – 2018 Legal Opinion on Alcohol and Representational Activity issued April 27, 2018. The opinion reaffirms a legal opinion originally issued on May 11, 2000, which notes the reimbursement for alcohol related expenditures is permissible.

Enclosure B – Office of General Counsel Supplemental Statement of Facts. The document provides insight to the OIG investigation and conclusions that were not captured in the report issued by the OIG from the perspective of the agency’s legal counsel.

Enclosure C – Office of Executive Director’s Supplemental Statement of Facts. The document provides insight to the OIG investigation and conclusions that were not captured in the report issued by the OIG from the perspective of the office responsible for developing and administering the agency’s travel policies and procedures.

Enclosure D – NCUA Policy for Travel by Board Members and Senior Policy Advisors. The document is the travel policy issued on July 31, 2018 applicable to the NCUA board members and their policy advisors.

Enclosure E – Representation Expenses Instruction. The document is the official NCUA policy regarding the use of funds for conducting representational activities that are incurred as part of work on behalf of the NCUA.

Response to OIG Report of Investigation 18-01 (opens new window)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (August 6, 2020) – Today, National Credit Union Administration Chairman Rodney E. Hood announced the appointment of Board Member Todd M. Harper as the agency’s representative on the Board of Directors of NeighborWorks America, one of the nation’s leading affordable housing and community development organizations.

“I congratulate Board Member Harper on his selection to serve on the NeighborWorks America Board of Directors,” Chairman Hood said.  “NeighborWorks plays a vital role in fostering greater investments and increasing access to affordable housing in our nation’s most underserved communities and their mission today is as important as ever.”

In June, Board Member J. Mark McWatters requested that the NCUA prepare for his transition off the NeighborWorks America Board of Directors because his NCUA Board term expired.

“In serving on the NeighborWorks America Board, I am committed to ensuring that the organization fulfills its goals of building strong, resilient communities by providing people with opportunities to live in safe, healthy and affordable housing,” Board Member Harper said. “My work at NeighborWorks America will also build on my long-standing public policy goals of affordable housing, consumer financial protection, and economic equality and justice. I thank Chairman Hood for the designation, as well as Board Member McWatters for his prior service.”

The NeighborWorks America Board consists of representatives of financial regulatory agencies and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Harper joins the following individuals on the NeighborWorks Board:

• Chair Martin Gruenberg, Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;
• Vice Chair Michelle W. Bowman, Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
• Grovetta Gardineer, Senior Deputy Comptroller for Bank Supervision Policy, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and
• Brian D. Montgomery, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For more than 40 years, NeighborWorks America has offered grant funding, peer-exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools and access to training as the nation’s leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. Its network includes more than 240 members in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In the last five years, the organization has generated more than $40.2 billion in investment across the country. For more information, visit www.neighborworks.org (opens new window).

(Aug. 3, 2020) – The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on behalf of its members today issued a statement setting forth prudent risk management and consumer protection principles for financial institutions to consider while working with borrowers as initial coronavirus-related loan accommodation periods come to an end and they consider additional accommodations.

The COVID event has had a significant adverse impact on consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and the economy. To address some of these impacts, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provides several forms of relief to business and individual borrowers, and some states and localities have taken action to provide similar credit accommodations. Also, many financial institutions have voluntarily offered other credit accommodations to their borrowers.

As initial loan accommodation periods come to an end, some borrowers may be able to resume contractual payments, and others may be unable to meet their obligations due to continuing financial challenges. The agencies encourage financial institutions to consider, when appropriate, prudent options for additional accommodations that can ease cash flow pressures on affected borrowers, improve their capacity to service debt, and facilitate the financial institution’s prudent management of its loans, consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

Attachment

Agency	Contact	Phone
CFPB	Marisol Garibay	202.384.8538
FDIC	Julianne Breitbeil	202.898.6895
Federal Reserve	Darren Gersh	202.452.2955
NCUA	Ben Hardaway	703.518.6333
OCC	Stephanie Collins	202.649.6870
SLC	Catherine Pickels	202.728.5734

(Aug. 3, 2020) – The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on behalf of its members today issued a statement setting forth prudent risk management and consumer protection principles for financial institutions to consider while working with borrowers as initial coronavirus-related loan accommodation periods come to an end and they consider additional accommodations.

The COVID event has had a significant adverse impact on consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and the economy. To address some of these impacts, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provides several forms of relief to business and individual borrowers, and some states and localities have taken action to provide similar credit accommodations. Also, many financial institutions have voluntarily offered other credit accommodations to their borrowers.

As initial loan accommodation periods come to an end, some borrowers may be able to resume contractual payments, and others may be unable to meet their obligations due to continuing financial challenges. The agencies encourage financial institutions to consider, when appropriate, prudent options for additional accommodations that can ease cash flow pressures on affected borrowers, improve their capacity to service debt, and facilitate the financial institution’s prudent management of its loans, consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

Attachment

Agency	Contact	Phone
CFPB	Marisol Garibay	202.384.8538
FDIC	Julianne Breitbeil	202.898.6895
Federal Reserve	Darren Gersh	202.452.2955
NCUA	Ben Hardaway	703.518.6333
OCC	Stephanie Collins	202.649.6870
SLC	Catherine Pickels	202.728.5734

(Aug. 3, 2020) – The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on behalf of its members today issued a statement setting forth prudent risk management and consumer protection principles for financial institutions to consider while working with borrowers as initial coronavirus-related loan accommodation periods come to an end and they consider additional accommodations.

The COVID event has had a significant adverse impact on consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and the economy. To address some of these impacts, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provides several forms of relief to business and individual borrowers, and some states and localities have taken action to provide similar credit accommodations. Also, many financial institutions have voluntarily offered other credit accommodations to their borrowers.

As initial loan accommodation periods come to an end, some borrowers may be able to resume contractual payments, and others may be unable to meet their obligations due to continuing financial challenges. The agencies encourage financial institutions to consider, when appropriate, prudent options for additional accommodations that can ease cash flow pressures on affected borrowers, improve their capacity to service debt, and facilitate the financial institution’s prudent management of its loans, consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

Attachment

Agency	Contact	Phone
CFPB	Marisol Garibay	202.384.8538
FDIC	Julianne Breitbeil	202.898.6895
Federal Reserve	Darren Gersh	202.452.2955
NCUA	Ben Hardaway	703.518.6333
OCC	Stephanie Collins	202.649.6870
SLC	Catherine Pickels	202.728.5734

Board Action Bulletin

Proposed Rule to Minimize Potential Effects of CECL Methodology

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 30, 2020) – Using a live audio webcast, the National Credit Union Administration Board held its sixth open meeting of 2020 and approved four items:

• A final rule amending the chartering and field-of-membership rules for credit unions applying for a community charter approval, expansion, or conversion.
• A proposed rule that would phase-in the day-one adverse effects on regulatory capital that may result from the adoption of the current expected credit losses accounting methodology over a three year period.
• A proposed rule that amends the NCUA’s regulation governing the assessment of an annual operating fee on federal credit unions.
• A request for comment on the existing overhead transfer rate and the operating fee schedule methodologies.

The Chief Financial Officer also briefed the Board on the agency’s revised budget estimates and expenditures in 2020.

Board Approves Changes to NCUA’s Chartering and Field-of-Membership Regulations

The NCUA Board unanimously approved a final rule that would help facilitate greater access to safe and affordable financial services by changing the agency’s chartering and field-of-membership regulations for community charter approvals, expansions, or conversions.

“Today, with this rule, the Board is taking a critical step in the NCUA’s ongoing work to allow credit unions to alleviate some of the difficulties of low-income and underserved Americans in accessing financial services,” NCUA Chairman Rodney E. Hood said. “I often call financial inclusion the civil rights issue of our time, and this rule will help maintain and expand financial access to more Americans in rural and underserved communities.”

The final rule (opens new window) re-adopts a provision to allow an applicant to designate a combined statistical area, or an individual, contiguous portion thereof, as a well-defined local community if the chosen area has a population of 2.5 million or fewer.  Credit unions that had their combined statistical areas removed from their fields of membership because of litigation will be contacted by the agency to determine if they would like those reinstated. If they would, then NCUA will do so as soon as the rule is effective.

Separately, in accordance with an August 2019 opinion and order issued by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the final rule provides further explanation and support for the elimination of the requirement to serve a core-based statistical area’s core area, as provided in the agency’s 2016 field-of-membership rule.

The rule also clarifies existing requirements and adds an explicit provision to the NCUA’s field-of-membership regulations to address concerns about potential discrimination in the selection process for combined statistical areas and core-based statistical areas.

This final rule is effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Proposed Rule Would Phase-in Effects of the CECL

The NCUA Board unanimously approved a proposed rule that would phase-in the day-one adverse effects on regulatory capital that may result from fully implementing the current expected credit losses (CECL) accounting methodology. This proposal is consistent with regulations issued by the federal banking agencies.

“The proposed CECL change has raised serious questions in the credit union industry, as well as among other smaller financial services providers, as it would entail greater complexity, higher costs and a significantly heavier compliance burden, while bringing little additional benefit to the institutions,” Chairman Hood said. “As such, it is unwise to impose a burdensome and costly new regulation on credit unions, particularly smaller institutions in underserved areas, at such a time of great challenge.”

Under the proposed rule (opens new window), the NCUA Board would phase-in the day-one effects on a federally insured credit union’s net worth ratio over a three-year period, under the NCUA’s prompt corrective action regulations. The proposed rule would temporarily mitigate the adverse consequences of the day-one capital adjustments, while requiring that credit unions account for CECL for other purposes, such as on their Call Reports.

The phase-in would only be applied to those federally insured credit unions that adopt the CECL for the fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2022, which is the deadline established by the Federal Accounting Standards Board for CECL’s implementation. Credit unions that decide to adopt CECL for the fiscal years beginning before that date would not be eligible for the phase-in.

Under the proposal, federally insured credit unions with less than $10 million in assets would no longer be required to determine their charges for loan losses under GAAP. Instead, these credit unions could use any reasonable reserve methodology if it adequately covers known and probable loan losses.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Proposed Rule Would Change How NCUA Calculates its Annual Operating Fee

The Board unanimously approved a proposed rule that would amend the NCUA’s regulation governing the assessment of an annual operating fee on federal credit unions.

The proposed rule (opens new window) would amend the current operating fee rule to exclude from a federal credit union’s total assets any loan under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program or similar future programs approved for exclusion by the NCUA Board when calculating the annual operating fee. The proposed rule would also delete from the current regulation references to the Credit Union System Investment Program and the Credit Union Homeowners Affordability Relief Program, both of which no longer exist.

Finally, the proposed rule would amend the period used for the calculation of a federal credit union’s total assets when determining the annual operating fee. Currently, total assets are calculated using a federal credit union’s December 31 Call Report from the preceding year. Under the proposal, total assets would be calculated as the average total assets reported in a federal credit union’s previous four Call Reports available at the time the NCUA Board approves the agency’s budget for the upcoming year.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

NCUA Requests Stakeholder Comments on OTR and Operating Fee Methodologies

The NCUA Board unanimously approved the issuance of a notice and request for comment (opens new window) on the methodologies for computing the overhead transfer rate (OTR) and determining the annual operating fee schedule, which are the two mechanisms used to fund the agency’s budget.

The existing principles-based OTR methodology used by the NCUA was adopted in 2017. The NCUA does not propose any changes to the existing methodology at this time. However, the NCUA Board committed to requesting public comment on the methodology every three years, or when it proposes a change to one or more of the principles.

The NCUA is also requesting stakeholder comment on proposed clarifications to and questions about the methodology it uses to determine how it allocates operating fees charged to federal credit unions.

Comments are due 60 days from publication in the Federal Register.

Briefing Provides Update on NCUA’s Budget at Mid-year

The Chief Financial Officer estimates (opens new window) the NCUA will have a small budget surplus in the Operating Fund at the end of the year due to a reduction in the employee travel because of COVID-19. The budget for the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund administrative expenses may also see some savings due to the reduction in travel.

The NCUA will continue to refine its estimates for other cost categories and will provide additional information about the agency’s budget and expenses on its website.

The NCUA tweets all open Board meetings live. Follow @TheNCUA (opens new window) on Twitter, and access Board Action Memorandums and NCUA rule changes at www.ncua.gov. The NCUA also live streams, archives and posts videos of open Board meetings online.

Board Action Bulletin

Proposed Rule to Minimize Potential Effects of CECL Methodology

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 30, 2020) – Using a live audio webcast, the National Credit Union Administration Board held its sixth open meeting of 2020 and approved four items:

• A final rule amending the chartering and field-of-membership rules for credit unions applying for a community charter approval, expansion, or conversion.
• A proposed rule that would phase-in the day-one adverse effects on regulatory capital that may result from the adoption of the current expected credit losses accounting methodology over a three year period.
• A proposed rule that amends the NCUA’s regulation governing the assessment of an annual operating fee on federal credit unions.
• A request for comment on the existing overhead transfer rate and the operating fee schedule methodologies.

The Chief Financial Officer also briefed the Board on the agency’s revised budget estimates and expenditures in 2020.

Board Approves Changes to NCUA’s Chartering and Field-of-Membership Regulations

The NCUA Board unanimously approved a final rule that would help facilitate greater access to safe and affordable financial services by changing the agency’s chartering and field-of-membership regulations for community charter approvals, expansions, or conversions.

“Today, with this rule, the Board is taking a critical step in the NCUA’s ongoing work to allow credit unions to alleviate some of the difficulties of low-income and underserved Americans in accessing financial services,” NCUA Chairman Rodney E. Hood said. “I often call financial inclusion the civil rights issue of our time, and this rule will help maintain and expand financial access to more Americans in rural and underserved communities.”

The final rule (opens new window) re-adopts a provision to allow an applicant to designate a combined statistical area, or an individual, contiguous portion thereof, as a well-defined local community if the chosen area has a population of 2.5 million or fewer.  Credit unions that had their combined statistical areas removed from their fields of membership because of litigation will be contacted by the agency to determine if they would like those reinstated. If they would, then NCUA will do so as soon as the rule is effective.

Separately, in accordance with an August 2019 opinion and order issued by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the final rule provides further explanation and support for the elimination of the requirement to serve a core-based statistical area’s core area, as provided in the agency’s 2016 field-of-membership rule.

The rule also clarifies existing requirements and adds an explicit provision to the NCUA’s field-of-membership regulations to address concerns about potential discrimination in the selection process for combined statistical areas and core-based statistical areas.

This final rule is effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Proposed Rule Would Phase-in Effects of the CECL

The NCUA Board unanimously approved a proposed rule that would phase-in the day-one adverse effects on regulatory capital that may result from fully implementing the current expected credit losses (CECL) accounting methodology. This proposal is consistent with regulations issued by the federal banking agencies.

“The proposed CECL change has raised serious questions in the credit union industry, as well as among other smaller financial services providers, as it would entail greater complexity, higher costs and a significantly heavier compliance burden, while bringing little additional benefit to the institutions,” Chairman Hood said. “As such, it is unwise to impose a burdensome and costly new regulation on credit unions, particularly smaller institutions in underserved areas, at such a time of great challenge.”

Under the proposed rule (opens new window), the NCUA Board would phase-in the day-one effects on a federally insured credit union’s net worth ratio over a three-year period, under the NCUA’s prompt corrective action regulations. The proposed rule would temporarily mitigate the adverse consequences of the day-one capital adjustments, while requiring that credit unions account for CECL for other purposes, such as on their Call Reports.

The phase-in would only be applied to those federally insured credit unions that adopt the CECL for the fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2022, which is the deadline established by the Federal Accounting Standards Board for CECL’s implementation. Credit unions that decide to adopt CECL for the fiscal years beginning before that date would not be eligible for the phase-in.

Under the proposal, federally insured credit unions with less than $10 million in assets would no longer be required to determine their charges for loan losses under GAAP. Instead, these credit unions could use any reasonable reserve methodology if it adequately covers known and probable loan losses.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Proposed Rule Would Change How NCUA Calculates its Annual Operating Fee

The Board unanimously approved a proposed rule that would amend the NCUA’s regulation governing the assessment of an annual operating fee on federal credit unions.

The proposed rule (opens new window) would amend the current operating fee rule to exclude from a federal credit union’s total assets any loan under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program or similar future programs approved for exclusion by the NCUA Board when calculating the annual operating fee. The proposed rule would also delete from the current regulation references to the Credit Union System Investment Program and the Credit Union Homeowners Affordability Relief Program, both of which no longer exist.

Finally, the proposed rule would amend the period used for the calculation of a federal credit union’s total assets when determining the annual operating fee. Currently, total assets are calculated using a federal credit union’s December 31 Call Report from the preceding year. Under the proposal, total assets would be calculated as the average total assets reported in a federal credit union’s previous four Call Reports available at the time the NCUA Board approves the agency’s budget for the upcoming year.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

NCUA Requests Stakeholder Comments on OTR and Operating Fee Methodologies

The NCUA Board unanimously approved the issuance of a notice and request for comment (opens new window) on the methodologies for computing the overhead transfer rate (OTR) and determining the annual operating fee schedule, which are the two mechanisms used to fund the agency’s budget.

The existing principles-based OTR methodology used by the NCUA was adopted in 2017. The NCUA does not propose any changes to the existing methodology at this time. However, the NCUA Board committed to requesting public comment on the methodology every three years, or when it proposes a change to one or more of the principles.

The NCUA is also requesting stakeholder comment on proposed clarifications to and questions about the methodology it uses to determine how it allocates operating fees charged to federal credit unions.

Comments are due 60 days from publication in the Federal Register.

Briefing Provides Update on NCUA’s Budget at Mid-year

The Chief Financial Officer estimates (opens new window) the NCUA will have a small budget surplus in the Operating Fund at the end of the year due to a reduction in the employee travel because of COVID-19. The budget for the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund administrative expenses may also see some savings due to the reduction in travel.

The NCUA will continue to refine its estimates for other cost categories and will provide additional information about the agency’s budget and expenses on its website.

The NCUA tweets all open Board meetings live. Follow @TheNCUA (opens new window) on Twitter, and access Board Action Memorandums and NCUA rule changes at www.ncua.gov. The NCUA also live streams, archives and posts videos of open Board meetings online.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 29, 2020) – The COVID-19 pandemic and the national dialogue on the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion provide credit unions with an enormous opportunity to rise to the occasion to support their communities and members, National Credit Union Administration Chairman Rodney E. Hood said today.

“For credit unions, in particular, these events have taken on added significance because they highlight inequities that have long existed within the communities they serve throughout the United States,” Chairman Hood said. “The industry’s mantra of ‘people helping people’ can also serve as a useful moral guidepost for how we can transform today’s challenges into an opportunity for understanding, inclusion and healing.”

Hood delivered the keynote address at the 43^rd Credit Union Leadership Convention. His remarks, which were delivered virtually, are available on the NCUA’s website.

State of the Credit Union System

During his remarks, Hood discussed the state of federally insured credit unions since the pandemic began earlier in the year. Measures taken to combat the virus’ spread have resulted in historically high unemployment rates, he said. Hood noted that although there is evidence of an economic recovery, the NCUA anticipates that credit unions will experience higher delinquency rates as consumers and credit union members respond to the pandemic’s economic and financial effects.

“The near-term economic outlook is somewhat challenging, and I encourage credit unions to monitor economic and financial developments,” he said. “Though the months ahead will undoubtedly challenge the credit union system in unprecedented ways, it’s important to remember that credit unions have historically played a vital role in helping their members — and by extension, their communities — succeed financially.”

CECL Could Have a “Chilling Effect on Lending”

Hood also expressed his concern that requiring credit unions to comply with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s current expected credit losses methodology could affect credit unions’ ability to serve their members during the current pandemic.

“Even before the current pandemic, credit unions had approached the NCUA with concerns about the unintended consequences of implementing the new accounting standard,” Hood said. “In our current environment, I am especially concerned that adopting CECL will have a chilling effect on lending, including loans to low-income borrowers.”

Hood continued to urge FASB to grant credit unions a permanent exemption from CECL. However, he noted the NCUA Board has the authority to provide some relief to credit unions to minimize the standards effects.

“The NCUA Board will consider, at its meeting tomorrow, proposed regulatory amendments that will mitigate the adverse consequences of the capital adjustments resulting from CECL,” Hood said. “The Board will also exercise its statutory authority to exempt small credit unions with less than $10 million in assets from generally accepted accounting principles.”

A Sustained Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Hood also discussed the importance of the principals of diversity, equity and inclusion, which he said must inform all of the organization’s strategic planning and operations.

“Unfortunately, organizations and executive leaders far too often treat diversity as simply a ‘human resources’ issue,” Hood noted. “To be truly effective, though, diversity requires a commitment to cultural change at every level and must extend throughout the organization. It cannot simply be a matter of “checking the boxes” to show that you’ve got the right proportional representation of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people in the C-suite or on a corporate board.”

For the financial services industry, diversity is essential when it comes to reaching and serving a wider range of people, Hood said. He urged industry leaders to consider diversity in broader terms and challenged them to make an authentic and sustained commitment to financial inclusion.

Specifically, Hood stressed that leaders should ask:

• Are we doing everything we can to reach people with low and moderate incomes?
• Are we including disabled and differently abled individuals in our financial inclusion plans?
• What about people in hard-pressed urban communities or in distressed rural communities where financial service options are increasingly limited?

“Each of us should be thinking critically about these and other questions because they are at the core of true financial inclusion,” Hood said. “The financial services industry has shown great creativity in developing new types of products, but we haven’t always directed those creative energies toward the people and communities who need help the most. And that’s important because what truly matters is the impact we’re having on real people.”

EXIM’s Loan Guarantee Program Can Create New Opportunities

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 28, 2020) – Credit unions can discover new lending opportunities for their small business exporters through a webinar hosted by the National Credit Union Administration and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

The webinar, “Export Financing for Your Small Business Members,” is scheduled for August 19, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern. Online registration is now open (opens new window). Participants will use this same link to log into the webinar and should allow pop-ups from this website. There is no charge to participate.

“Our partnership with the Export-Import Bank opens new opportunities for credit unions to support their local businesses and communities,” Chairman Rodney E. Hood said. “Helping small businesses gain access to capital is essential, especially with today’s uncertainty. I encourage credit unions to participate in this webinar and learn how they can leverage these programs to support their small business member exporters.”

Staff from EXIM will discuss the Working Capital Loan Guarantee program, which provides a 90 percent guarantee against loans to exporters. Loans guaranteed by EXIM are exempt from the member business lending cap. EXIM staff will also discuss export credit insurance, which protects U.S. exporters against payment risk from their foreign customers.

Participants may submit questions in advance at [email protected]. The email’s subject line should read, “Export Financing for Your Small Business Members.” Technical questions about accessing the webinar should be emailed to [email protected].

This webinar will be closed captioned and then archived online approximately three weeks following the live event.

The NCUA and the EXIM Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 9 that launched a three-year collaboration to bring credit unions and small businesses together and raise awareness about the EXIM’s programs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 21, 2020) – The National Credit Union Administration today announced the selection of Eugene H. Schied as the agency’s new Chief Financial Officer.

As the agency’s Chief Financial Officer, Schied will lead a team of more than 50 employees who perform essential functions, such as accounting and financial reporting, enterprise risk management, strategic and performance planning, budgeting, procurement, facilities and logistical support, the administration of credit union operating fees, and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund’s capitalization deposits and operations.

“Eugene has nearly 20 years of senior financial and budget experience in the federal government,” NCUA Chairman Rodney E. Hood said. “He brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the position. The NCUA and broader credit union system will benefit greatly from his expertise in managing the Share Insurance Fund and the NCUA Operating Fund.”

Schied previously served as the NCUA’s Acting Chief Financial Officer and as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer. He succeeds Rendell Jones, who was named as the agency’s Deputy Executive Director in January of this year.

Before joining the NCUA in March 2017, he held executive positions at several federal agencies, including service as the Assistant Commissioner for Administration at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Budget Director and Deputy Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Homeland Security; Deputy Assistant Attorney General/Controller at the Department of Justice; and Chief Financial Officer at the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Schied received the Presidential Rank Medal for Meritorious Service in 2006.

He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Ohio State University and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Iowa.