“As soon as this final rule takes effect, federal credit union boards of directors will have the freedom to prudently make their own decisions about the appropriate level of fixed assets to hold,” she continued. “Then decisions to upgrade facilities, update technology and purchase other fixed assets will be made by credit union management without regulatory micro-management.”

CUNA also sounded off on the unanimous vote to remove the aggregate limit.

“We're pleased the NCUA board listened to CUNA and credit unions by removing the 5% fixed asset threshold,” President/CEO Jim Nussle said. “CUNA has long advocated for this change, which will allow credit unions more flexibility in deploying resources to benefit their members. However, we will not have a complete picture of the true regulatory relief until the NCUA provides credit unions with guidance.”

NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger said NAFCU also strongly supports the final rule, calling it much-needed regulatory relief.

“Federal credit unions deserve the flexibility to manage their investment in fixed assets independently, and we applaud the NCUA for amending its regulations to allow such flexibility while still maintaining a safe and sound system,” Berger said.

The board also unanimously approved a final rule amending the regulation that governs capital planning and stress testing for federally insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or more. According to the NCUA, the final rule adopts new annual deadlines for the stress testing and capital planning annual cycle. Credit unions will have until May 31, instead of the former deadline of Feb. 28, to submit capital plans to the agency, and the NCUA will have until Aug. 31 to provide stress testing results to covered credit unions and accept or reject their capital plans.

At the meeting, the NCUA also noted that performance reviews of the legacy assets of five failed corporate credit unions and the NCUA Guaranteed Notes program indicated that future Corporate Stabilization Fund assessments are unlikely.

“We have come a long way since 2009, when corporate credit unions were holding toxic assets that had lost $33 billion, more than half their market value,” Matz said. “If those losses had cascaded through the Share Insurance Fund, nearly 2,000 credit unions could have failed. Today, the worst is behind us. The Stabilization Fund has recorded four straight quarters of positive net position, and the NCUA Guaranteed Notes' performance continues to improve.”

Nussle said he hoped this would also mean a refund in coming years after the NCUA said there is a projected surplus of $700 million to $2.5 billion once the Stabilization Fund expires.

“It is also good news for credit unions that the NCUA confirmed today what CUNA has long been saying: There will be no stabilization fund assessment for 2015 and there is an increasing likelihood for a refund in 2021,” Nussle said.