NCUA board approves rules on derivatives, corporate credit- union regulation

The board of directors of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) on Oct. 15 held its monthly meeting, unanimously approving a proposed rule on derivatives and a final rule regarding corporate credit unions.

The group also heard a cybersecurity briefing.

Details on the NCUA board meeting were posted on the Oct. 16 New York Minute blog of the New York Credit Union Association.

Derivatives rule

The proposed rule would modernize the NCUA’s derivatives rule and make it more “principles-based” and allow “more flexibility” for federal credit unions to manage their interest-rate risk through these financial instruments, according to the Alexandria, Virginia–based NCUA.

The proposed changes include eliminating the pre-approval process for federal credit unions that are complex with a management CAMEL component rating of one or two.

CAMEL is a rating system that’s short for capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, and liquidity.

They also include eliminating the specific product permissibility and removing the regulatory limits on the number of derivatives a federal credit union may purchase.

Comments on the proposed derivatives rule will be accepted for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register, NCUA said.

Corporate credit unions

The final rule regarding corporate credit unions “updates and simplifies” provisions of the NCUA’s corporate credit-union regulation.

Those provisions include permitting a corporate credit union to make a minimal investment in a credit-union service organization (CUSO) without classification for the CUSO as a corporate CUSO under the NCUA’s rules.

They also include expanding the categories of senior staff positions at member credit unions eligible to serve on a corporate credit union’s board and amending the minimum experience and independence requirement for a corporate credit union’s enterprise risk-management expert.

Comments on the final corporate credit-union rule will be accepted for 30 days following publication in the Federal Register, NCUA said.

Cybersecurity briefing

The board also received a briefing on cybersecurity considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It included a warning that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial-services industry — including credit unions — remains a “major target” for hackers and thieves who are adapting their techniques to take advantage of an increased use of remote operations.

The special advisor to the chairman for cybersecurity said that boards of directors play a “critical role” in strengthening their institution’s cyber-preparedness levels, and as they evaluate their institution’s information-security programs, they should evaluate their responses to four questions. 

First, have business impact and business-process scenarios been reviewed and revised in the continuity plans based on the operating conditions of COVID-19?

Second, how are policies and procedures related to remote access being strengthened to address the heightened risks created by employees working from home?

Third, has the incident-management plan been updated for leadership and employees in a remote working environment?

And fourth, how is the business changing its strategic priorities in the short, mid, and long term to address the potential change to norms?

The cybersecurity briefing and a cybersecurity resources webpage are both available on the NCUA website: ncua.gov.