NCUA Board Approves Financial Innovation Final Rule
The rule amends regulations on loan participations, eligible obligations, and notes of liquidating CUs.
In a 3-0 vote, the NCUA Board approved its final rule for financial innovation that amends current regulations surrounding indirect lending, the purchase of loan participations, as well as “the purchase, sale, and pledge of eligible obligations and notes of liquidating credit unions.”
The rule, which was introduced in December, was passed during Thursday’s NCUA Board meeting and should help clarify the agency’s current regulations to provide clarity and flexibility that could make it easier for federally insured credit unions to take advantage of opportunities offered by financial technology.
NCUA Board Chairman Todd Harper said, “This new rule codifies several long-standing supervisory guidance letters on third-party due diligence, indirect lending, and loan participations, and it shifts the regulatory framework from a prescriptive structure to a principles-based system.”
Harper continued, “However, with greater freedom also comes greater responsibility. Managers and boards of directors choosing to use this new rule, therefore, must ensure their third-party due diligence and vendor management policies are updated, followed, and reflect the size and complexity of their activities and risk levels.”
According to the NCUA, the final rule also accomplishes the following items:
- Relocates and clarifies the NCUA’s provisions regarding indirect lending and indirect leasing.
- Provides credit unions with additional flexibility to participate in loans acquired through indirect lending arrangements, allowing federally insured credit unions to use advanced technologies and opportunities offered by the fintech sector.
- Removes certain restrictions and other qualifying requirements relating to eligible obligations and provides credit unions with additional flexibility to purchase eligible obligations of their members.
The final rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Read More: The NCUA’s final rule – Financial Innovation: Loan Participations, Eligible Obligations, and Notes of Liquidating Credit Unions.