NCUA's Chairman Hood Outlines His Priorities

In a speech to the African-American Credit Union Coalition 21st Annual Conference, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Rodney Hood outlined his priorities for the agency of effective regulation, a forward-looking approach to innovation, and financial inclusion to better serve a changing population and economy.

First, Chairman Hood wants "to see a regulatory system that is effective, but not excessive." He noted that the agency is working to modernize the regulatory system, which involves "modifying, updating, or in some cases, eliminating regulations that no longer fit a changing financial system." He wants the regulatory system to encourage innovation and provide flexibility, while fulfilling NCUA's primary mission of protecting safety and soundness of the credit union industry.

Second, Chairman Hood stated he wanted to steer the industry in the right direction with regard to innovation. He noted that financial innovation is providing new opportunities to credit unions, but also poses new challenges. He further stated that cybersecurity is a significant concern and will remain a supervisory priority of the agency during his tenure.

Third, Chairman Hood commented that diversity and inclusion will be a priority of the agency. Chairman Hood cited that the United States is undergoing rapid and unprecedented demographic change. He stated: "Diversity and inclusion are a fundamental part of our industry’s history."

He mentioned that one tool at the agency's disposal to achieve this priority is the low-income designation of credit unions and noted that the number of low-income designated credit unions have gone from 184 in 1990 to over 2,500 today.

Read the speech.