Rep. Duffy Seeks Answers to Impact of NCUSIF Premium on CU Lending and Operations

In a letter to National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Rick Metsger, Rep. Sean Duffy (R - WI) requested that the NCUA Board carefully assess the impact of a National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) premium assessment on federally-insured credit unions.

NCUA staff had recommended a possible premium assessment of 3 to 6 basis points for the NCUSIF in 2017.

Specifically, Rep. Duffy requested answers to following five questions by December 27.

Has NCUA done any economic modeling on how assessing a premium could impact credit union lending and operations? If so, what were the results?

Considering that the fund is currently near the top of the normal operating range, does your "base" projection in your economic modeling have the NCUSIF falling outside of the normal operating range (and thus requiring a premium) in the next one to three years?

I understand that the equity ratio is affected by factors such as operating expenses. What is NCUA doing to seek operational improvements and increase efficiency? Will NCUA fully exhaust these possible improvements before seeking a premium?

When the Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund expires ... is it possible any refunds of remaining money in the fund go back to credit unions via the NCUSIF? How could that impact the equity ratio of the NCUSIF?

What is your best estimate currently for the amount of funds that credit unions will receive from the Corporate Stabilization Fund once that expires? How does NCUA make the decision to sell securities once the NCUA Guaranteed Notes (NGNs) mature? Is the agency working to maximize this amount for credit unions?

Read the letter.