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About
About
Created by the U.S. Congress in 1970, the National Credit Union Administration is an independent federal agency that insures deposits at federally insured credit unions, protects the members who own credit unions, and charters and regulates federal credit unions.
Regulation & Supervision
Regulation & Supervision
The NCUA protects the safety and soundness of the credit union system by identifying, monitoring and reducing risks to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the Share Insurance Fund provides up to $250,000 of federal share insurance to millions of account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.
Analysis
Analysis
The NCUA’s economists and analysts compile data on the credit union system’s financial performance, merger activity, changes in credit union chartering and fields of membership, as well as broader economic trends affecting credit unions. Users can find information on a single credit union or analyze broader nation-wide trends.
Support Services
Support Services
The NCUA provides a number of support services to the credit union system, such as providing training, grants and loans, chartering, and field-of-membership services; maintaining the health and stability of Share Insurance Fund; managing the assets of failed credit unions; and providing emergency liquidity.
Consumers
Consumers
The NCUA works to protect credit union members and consumers, raise awareness of potential frauds, facilitate access to affordable financial services, and educate consumers on the importance of savings and how they can improve their financial well-being.
News
News
Stay up to date on the NCUA's activities by subscribing to the NCUA's Express messages. Read press releases, speeches, testimony, and Annual Reports. Register for upcoming conferences and events.
Cybersecurity Resources
Cybersecurity Resources
Cyberattacks and cybersecurity vulnerabilities pose significant risks to the financial system. Because of vulnerabilities within the credit union industry and the broader financial system to potential cyberattacks, cybersecurity is one of the NCUA’s top supervisory priorities and a top-tier risk under the agency’s enterprise risk-management program.

Regulatory Modernization Initiative

Results from 2011 through 2016.

Improved Rules
NCUA Actions	Benefits
NCUA Actions Expanded Regulatory Relief Eligibility for Small and Non-Complex Credit Unions	Benefits Expanded NCUA’s regulatory exemptions for credit unions with assets of less than $100 million (up from $10 million in 2012) Eased compliance requirements for small credit unions to access emergency liquidity More than doubled the number of small credit unions eligible for regulatory relief in future NCUA rulemakings (4,500 out of 6,000 CUs) Exempted non-complex credit unions (75 percent of all CUs) from risk-based capital requirements
NCUA Actions Eliminated Fixed Assets Cap	Benefits Eliminated federal credit unions’ 5 percent cap on fixed assets Removed the need to apply for regulatory waivers Empowering federal credit unions to make their own business decisions on purchases of land, buildings, office equipment, and technology
NCUA Actions Pre-Approved Associational Common Bonds	Benefits Pre-approved 12 categories of associations that federal credit unions may automatically add to their fields of membership: alumni associations athletic booster clubs Chamber of Commerce groups electric cooperatives ethnic organizations fraternal organizations homeowners’ associations labor unions occupational organizations parent-teacher associations religious organizations scouting groups
NCUA Actions Expanding Fields of Membership	Benefits Proposed a modernized field of membership rule to: Designate each Congressional District as a well-defined local community Serve Combined Statistical Areas with populations up to 2.5 million Raise potential membership to 1 million for federal credit unions in rural areas Extend membership eligibility to honorary discharged veterans, contractors, and businesses in industrial parks Recognize full-service websites and electronic applications as service facilities for select employee groups Modernize the definition of “underserved area” Finalized a principles-based rule on member business lending to: Remove non-statutory limits on member business loans Empower each credit union to write their own business loan policy and set their own limits under the law Eliminate the requirement for all business owners to pledge personal guarantees Remove unnecessary barriers on business loan participations which help credit unions diversify risks
NCUA Actions Eased Troubled Debt Restructuring	Benefits Facilitated credit union loan modifications Ended manual reporting of modified loans Prevented unnecessary foreclosures Kept more credit union members in their homes throughout the housing crisis
NCUA Actions Authorized “Plain Vanilla” Derivatives	Benefits Permits qualified federal credit unions to use “plain vanilla” derivatives to reduce interest rate risks Protects the credit union system from interest rate risks at large credit unions by providing an additional interest rate risk mitigation tool Allows approved federal credit unions to maintain appropriate levels of mortgage loans in portfolios
NCUA Actions Approved Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities	Benefits Offers federal credit unions an additional investment backed by the Federal Government with zero credit risk
NCUA Actions Established Charitable Donation Accounts	Benefits Empowers federal credit unions to safely pool investments designed to primarily benefit national, state, or local charities
NCUA Actions Eliminating Full Occupancy Requirement	Benefits Proposed eliminating a requirement that federal credit unions must plan for and eventually reach full occupancy of acquired premises

Streamlined Processes
NCUA Actions	Benefits
NCUA Actions “Opt-In” Low-Income Credit Union Designation	Benefits Implemented an “Opt-In” notification process whereby eligible credit unions can simply reply “Yes” to receive their Low-Income Designation Doubled the number of Low-Income Designations in three years, reaching 2,300 credit unions serving 30 million members Low-Income Credit Unions are authorized by statute to: Expand member business lending beyond the statutory cap Count supplemental capital toward the net worth leverage ratio Raise non-member deposits Apply for Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants and loans Provided policy flexibility for Low-Income Credit Unions to redeem secondary capital when investors request
NCUA Actions Expedited Examinations for Smallest Credit Unions	Benefits Created an expedited exam process for well-managed credit unions with CAMEL ratings of 1, 2 or 3 and assets up to $50 million Focused expedited exams on issues most likely to pose risks to the smallest credit unions
NCUA Actions Referring Member Complaints	Benefits Referring member complaints directly to federal credit unions Providing supervisory committees with 60 days to resolve each complaint before NCUA intervenes
NCUA Actions Approving Fields of Membership	Benefits Provided a 5-page template for community charter applications rather than requiring hundreds of pages of community documentation Upgraded NCUA’s technology platform to allow credit unions applying to expand their fields of membership to track the status of their applications on-line throughout the approval process
NCUA Actions Certifying Credit Unions as Community Development Financial Institutions	Benefits Signed agreement with US Treasury to double the number of credit unions certified as Community Development Financial Institutions by January 2017 Automating existing NCUA data to pre-qualify Low-Income Credit Unions as certified CDFIs eligible for multi-million-dollar grants from Treasury’s CDFI Fund
NCUA Actions Cutting Reporting Burdens	Benefits Beginning with the September, 30, 2016, Call Report, credit unions will only be required to submit aggregate loan and investment information about credit union service organizations

Improved Rules
NCUA Actions	Benefits
NCUA Actions Authorized “Network Credit Union” Model	Benefits Creates a cooperative structure where small credit unions can merge without losing their identity or member services flexibility
NCUA Actions Extended Loan Maturities	Benefits Permits loan maturities up to 40 years after loan modifications Significantly reduces monthly payments for borrowers in need
NCUA Actions Permitted Indirect Loan Participations	Benefits Allows credit unions to sell portions of indirect loans to raise liquidity Provides buyers another option to diversify loan portfolios
NCUA Actions Expanded Vehicle Fleets	Benefits Expanded “fleets” from 2 to 5 vehicles for member business loans Increases access to credit for small businesses and startups
NCUA Actions Modernized Service Facilities	Benefits Includes full-service video tellers in the definition of federal credit union “service facilities” Empowers federal credit unions to expand services in underserved areas
NCUA Actions Changing Charters in Mergers	Benefits Permits credit unions to change charters to facilitate voluntary mergers Enhances credit union services for members of merging credit unions

Last modified on

03/05/21