Mark McWatters, President Obama's choice for the NCUA Board, advocated for easing the regulatory burden on financial institutions as a member of the Troubled Asset Relief Program Congressional Oversight Panel.

"With the ever-expanding array of less-than-friendly rules, regulations and taxes facing businesses and consumers, we should not be surprised if businesses remain reluctant to hire new employees, consumers remain cautious about spending, and the commercial credit and small business lending markets continue to struggle," McWatters and fellow panelist Paul Atkins said in a May 2010 oversight report on the small business credit crunch and the impact of TARP.

Atkins and McWatters, whose selection to succeed Michael Fryzel as the Republican member of the three-person board was announced on Dec. 18, also said, "In our view, the administration could encourage the robust recovery of the commercial credit and small business lending markets—as well as the overall U.S. economy—by sending an unambiguous message to the private sector that it will not directly or indirectly raise the taxes or increase the regulatory burden of commercial credit and small business market participants and other business enterprises.