ICBA: Latest credit union acquisition shows need for policy action

After a new acquisition of a tax-paying community bank in Arizona by a tax-exempt credit union, ICBA said the need for policymaker action is urgent.

Details: In a national press release, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said the credit union industry’s tax and regulatory exemptions have been rightfully scrutinized in recent months. “Policymakers must address this taxpayer-subsidized consolidation brought about by growth-obsessed credit unions taking advantage of loopholes and act to preserve market choice for consumers and small businesses,” she said.

Latest Media Coverage:

• In a new report, Banking Risk & Regulation spotlighted opaque executive compensation at nonprofit credit unions.

• CU Daily wrote that some in the credit union industry are concerned about the policy impact of a proposed merger of two $9 billion credit unions.

• Banking Dive spotlighted ICBA’s calls for policymakers to end the tax exemption for credit unions over $1 billion in assets.

ICBA Advocacy: ICBA’s “Repair, Reform, and Thrive” plan and open letter to the 119th Congress urge lawmakers to use the current debate over tax reform to address credit unions’ tax and regulatory advantages. Further, a policy resolution that ICBA introduced earlier this year formally calls on policymakers to end the federal tax exemption for credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets or to establish tax parity between credit unions and tax-paying community banks.