Following new credit union acquisitions, ICBA continues hearing push

ICBA continued its calls for Congress to investigate credit union acquisitions of tax-paying community banks following two new acquisitions.

ICBA Response: In a post on X, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said that with the latest deals, 20% of this year’s bank acquisitions are by tax-exempt credit unions—showing the significance of the trend. ICBA separately noted each deal expands the portion of the financial services industry exempt from the Community Reinvestment Act and called for a hearing.

Recent Hearing Request: ICBA recently called on congressional committees to convene a hearing on credit union lending practices and oversight following reports of discriminatory lending at Navy Federal Credit Union. In its letter, ICBA provided questions that lawmakers should explore, such as whether Navy Federal’s practices are widespread within the credit union industry and whether permissive National Credit Union Administration oversight enables discriminatory lending.

Eyes on NCUA Oversight: Attention to credit union policy continued to grow with last week’s Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta report noting that the NCUA has no enforcement authority over third-party service providers. As ICBA has testified before Congress, it supports allowing the NCUA to directly examine and regulate CUSOs, core providers, and other third-party providers, which contributed to ICBA-supported legislation introduced during the 117th Congress to grant the NCUA such authority.

More on Credit Unions: Amid ongoing credit union acquisitions of community banks and increased attention to credit union policy, ICBA has:

• Launched targeted ads and a new website making clear to consumers that “Something’s Wrong” with credit union policy.

• Conducted an ad campaign directing congressional offices to questions they should ask credit union executives in Washington for advocacy meetings.

• Renewed its call for Congress to act on credit union bank acquisitions.

Grassroots Resources: Community bankers can use ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots action center to call on their members of Congress to hold a hearing on NCUA oversight. Additional resources—including state fact sheets, a messaging playbook, and a customizable op-ed—are available on the ICBA website.