Six new NCUA deregulation proposals

February 25, 2026

The sixth round of proposed regulatory changes as part of the NCUA’s Deregulation Project  is now available. Announced Tuesday, it marks the most expansive round of deregulation proposals yet.

There are six new proposals open for comment:  

  • Post-Election Training for New Board Members would remove the regulatory requirement for a credit union director to have or obtain expertise in finance and accounting within six months after appointment.
  • Loan Compensation/Commission would add a definition of “overall financial performance” to 12 CFR 701.21(c)(8). This would clarify requirements related to federally insured credit union (FICU) compensation plans that include incentives or bonuses related to lending metrics as part of the FICU’s overall financial performance. The Board also proposes adding the phrase “including a senior management employee” to the exception on payments of an incentive or bonus to an employee based on overall financial performance.
  • Eligible Obligations proposes revising requirements related to written purchase policies to say that the eligible obligations and notes of liquidating credit unions must comply with the purchasing federal credit union’s internal written policies. This proposal would also revise the requirements related to the sale of eligible obligations to provide credit union board of directors’ with the authority to establish the limitations of their written sale policies.
  • Refund of Interest (Loans) would remove 12 CFR 701.24, which governs how federal credit unions may issue interest refunds to borrowers because it is duplicative of the Federal Credit Union (FCU) Act.
  • Credit Union Service Contracts would remove 12 CFR 701.26, which authorizes FCUs to enter into contractual agreements, but requires agreements to be in writing.
  • Definitions related to Statutory Lien proposes to eliminate the definition of “except as otherwise provided by law or except as otherwise provided by federal law” from NCUA regulation 12 CFR 701.39.

Watch for upcoming Regulatory Comment alerts from America’s Credit Unions requesting member feedback on the proposals.