The American Bankers Association today strongly opposed a proposal by the National Credit Union Administration that would expand the definition of “service facility” and erase the distinction between service to select groups and service to underserved areas as delineated in the Federal Credit Union Act.

In an American Banker op-ed today, former National Credit Union Administration Chairman Mark McWatters expressed concern that the agency has become “inappropriately emboldened” and said that “the agency may have abandoned . . . its congressional mandate to stay clearly within the four corners of the Federal Credit Union Act.”

As the concerning trend of tax-exempt credit unions purchasing taxpaying banks persists, an Indiana academic raised the question of whether credit unions making such acquisitions should consider to enjoy their exempt status.

In a move strongly condemned by ABA, the National Credit Union Administration today approved a final rule that would allow large credit unions to issue subordinated debt for regulatory capital purposes from outside for-profit investors—such as corporate debt markets—while maintaining their tax-exempt status.

A move by the National Credit Union Administration to allow large credit unions to issue subordinated debt for regulatory capital purposes from outside for-profit investors—such as corporate debt markets—while retaining their tax exemption would undermine the statutory principle that credit unions should serve consumers of small means, American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols wrote in an American Banker op-ed today.

In a letter to House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee leaders today, the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union expressed concerns about the credit union industry’s recent push to increase the member business lending cap.