NCUA Issues 2020 Annual Report

By John Zasada, Compliance Consulting Director, Financial Institutions Group

On Mar. 16, 2021, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued the NCUA 2020 Annual Report. While the 246-page annual report does not include much information on regulatory compliance, there are a few noteworthy compliance items credit unions should consider.

In 2020, the NCUA’s Office of Consumer Financial Protection spent 3,284 hours examining 19 credit unions for compliance with fair lending laws and regulations. Agency staff spent an additional 791 hours performing 32 offsite supervision contacts to review credit unions’ loan policies and, if necessary, provide recommendations to bring them into compliance with fair lending laws.

Consequently, in 2020, only 51 out of 5099 federally insured credit unions had any sort of fair lending testing by examiners. The annual report also mentioned that NCUA’s Consumer Assistance Center assisted 49,042 consumers and recorded more than $1,295,902 in monetary benefits for complainants.

Finally, the annual report stated that NCUA reviews all of its existing regulations every three years. The NCUA’s Office of General Counsel maintains a rolling review schedule that identifies one-third of the NCUA’s existing regulations for review each year and provides notice to the public of those regulations under review so the public may have an opportunity to comment.

If your credit union has questions about the NCUA’s 2020 Annual Report, contact Doeren Mayhew’s regulatory compliance specialists today.