NAFCU responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2016) — In response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger issued the following statement.

“NAFCU and our members appreciate the president’s outlook that we are in a time of extraordinary change. NAFCU welcomes the prospect of working with the administration and Congress to move our country’s economy forward, particularly through several key issues that mirror our priorities for 2016 – including regulatory relief for credit unions and increased small business lending.

“We welcome President Obama’s recognition that a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. Our nation’s credit unions are uniquely qualified to help make this a reality by facilitating access to capital and financial services in communities throughout Main Street America. Unfortunately, they are restricted by an arbitrary member business lending cap on credit unions. Lifting this arbitrary lending cap could make more capital available to small businesses and help create valuable jobs.”

“President Obama’s call that we eliminate outdated regulations, as well as his acknowledgment of excessive red tape, echoes our concerns about the overwhelming impact of the compliance burden on credit unions. In particular, the impact of rulemaking as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act is evident as the number of credit unions continues to decline, dropping since the second quarter of 2010 by more than 17 percent (more than 1,280 institutions), 96 percent of which were smaller institutions with assets of less than $100 million.

“NAFCU looks forward to working with the administration, Congress and federal regulators on ways to ease Dodd-Frank burdens that were not intended for the credit union industry, relief from constraints on lending to member small businesses and enactment of national data security standards that ensure all stakeholders are doing all they can to protect consumers’ sensitive personal and financial data,” said Berger.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. www.nafcu.org.