Board Proposes Delaying Risk-Based Capital Rule Until 2022

Board Action Bulletin

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (June 20, 2019) – The National Credit Union Administration Board held its sixth open meeting of 2019 at the agency’s headquarters today and approved one item:

• A proposed rule delaying the effective date of the agency’s risk-based capital rule to Jan. 1, 2022.

RBC Delay Would Give More Time for Study

The effective date of the NCUA’s risk-based capital rule would move to Jan. 1, 2022, under a proposed rule approved by a 2-1 Board vote.

“This is an appropriate time to consider additional improvements to the risk-based capital rule,” NCUA Board Chairman Rodney E. Hood said. “We have a strong economy, and credit unions are very well-capitalized, with a net worth above 11 percent. As a regulator and steward of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, I am committed to a system of prudent capital standards as required by the Federal Credit Union Act.”

Comments on the proposed rule must be received within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The proposed delay will provide the NCUA Board time to holistically consider additional improvements to credit union capital standards, such as subordinated debt authority, capital treatment for asset securitization, and a community bank leverage ratio equivalent for credit unions. It also will give the agency time to integrate changes into the rule before it goes into effect. During the extended delay period, the NCUA’s current prompt corrective action requirements would remain in effect.

The Board approved the risk-based capital rule at its October 2015 meeting and scheduled it to go into effect Jan. 1, 2019.  At its October 2018 meeting, the Board unanimously approved a rule that delayed the effective date to Jan. 1, 2020, and raised the asset threshold for a complex credit union from $100 million to $500 million.

Based on Call Report data from the end of 2018, if the NCUA’s risk-based capital rule were to go into effect today, 545 complex credit unions would be subject to its requirements, and more than 99 percent of all complex credit unions would be considered well-capitalized.

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