Exam relief, anti-regulation by guidance bills set for markup

July 22, 2025

Credit unions would receive regulatory relief in several bills the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to mark up starting today.  America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote in support of four bills in advance of the markup, urging the committee to advance them.

The bills with potential impact to credit unions include:

  • The Supervisory Modifications for Appropriate Risk-Based Testing (SMART) Act (H.R. 4437), which would provide well-managed, well-capitalized credit unions with regulatory relief through combined safety-and-soundness exams and consumer compliance exams, as well as allowing for limited-scope, off-site exams in alternate years. It was introduced by Reps. William Timmons, R-S.C., and Bill Foster, D-Ill.;
  • The Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance Act (H.R. 4460), which would require federal financial regulators to state on the first page of guidance documents that the guidance does not have the force and effect of law and therefore does not establish any rights or obligations. Nussle encouraged the committee to “affirmatively provide a non-exhaustive list of examples of guidance” to ensure the legislation’s full intent can be realized. It was introduced by Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.;
  • The Tailored Regulatory Updates for Supervisory Testing (TRUST) Act (H.R. 4478), which would raise the consolidated asset to $10 billion (up from the current $3 billion) for banks to qualify for an 18-month examination cycle. NCUA possesses the authority for such extended examination cycles. If the bill is advanced, the hope is “Congress would use its oversight capacity to urge the NCUA to set its examination cycle thresholds equal to those of banks,” Nussle wrote. It was introduced by Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C.;
  • The American Access to Banking Act (H.R. 4544), which would promote forming de novo credit unions and other community banks by streamlining the federal application process. The committee’s Ranking Member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., introduced the bill.

Nussle also wrote directly to Waters Monday in support of her bill, thanking her for legislation that “addresses persistent and burdensome challenges that new credit unions and community banks – institutions that are community-oriented and mission-driven – face when attempting to form.”

Heading into the markup, America’s Credit Unions “would also like to work with the Committee to advance legislation that would modernize the Federal Credit Union Act so that credit unions are able to continue working to support and uplift communities,” Nussle wrote to the committee.

Read the full letter to the committee here.