The Independent Community Bankers of America and the nation's community banks are calling on policymakers and the public to “Wake Up” to the risky practices, costly tax subsidies, and irresponsibly lax oversight of the nation’s credit unions.
It is long past time for policymakers to wake up to the new realities of the credit union industry for the sake of our nation’s consumers and economic well-being. This is not the time to press snooze.
Credit unions do not pay federal income tax, do not pay rent on military bases, have little to no oversight and abuse industries and customers alike.
This letter asks your members of Congress to WAKE UP and address the ridiculous lack of oversight and substantial and unfair competitive advantage taxpayer-subsidized credit unions enjoy.
Because of their tax advantage and relaxed field of membership regulations, credit unions have begun to acquire community banks in order to fuel their growth. This trend should concern taxpayers.
See how credit unions have abandoned their original mandate and how in doing so they've failed the communities they're supposed to serve.
The Congressional Budget Office, Treasury Department and Joint Committee on Taxation all state that credit unions escape paying nearly $2B in taxes every year. As good and responsible stewards of their communities, community banks contributed nearly $15B in tax revenue in 2018.
The National Credit Union Administration is proposing to create a new rule that would prescribe the procedures for federally-insured credit union (“FICU”) acquisitions of banks and would create new, explicit requirements on all assets acquired from a bank. NCUA is accepting comments until March 30, 2020. To comment, visit www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for submission.
The National Credit Union Administration board approved an ICBA-opposed final rule that will allow the largest and most complex credit unions to issue subordinated debt to institutional investors.
Under the rule, the subordinated debt instruments count toward qualifying credit unions’ risk-based net-worth requirement. While low-income credit unions are already permitted to issue subordinated debt, the rule will add an additional 285 complex credit unions representing $730 billion in assets, ICBA said in its comment letter earlier this year.
In a news release, ICBA said the rule is another example of the NCUA expanding credit union powers well beyond limits justifying the industry’s tax exemption.
“The NCUA’s rule would undermine credit unions’ mutual ownership structure, allow outside investors to exploit the credit union tax subsidy, and fuel runaway growth of an industry that has abandoned its founding mission to serve people of modest means," ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said.
ICBA continues raising awareness of credit union mission creep and the NCUA's overreach through its "Wake Up" campaign and Credit Union Task Force.
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