On May 6, the NCUA published the eleventh round of its Deregulation Project (previously covered by InfoBytes here), proposing to cut two rules the agency deems to be outdated and duplicative. Comments on both proposals are due July 6.

The first proposal would raise both asset-size thresholds in the agency’s management interlocks regulation under the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act from $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion to $10 billion, matching the level the OCC, Fed, and FDIC adopted in 2019. According to the NCUA, the current thresholds have not been adjusted since 1996 and no longer reflect the size of today’s depository institutions. The agency said the higher thresholds would spare smaller credit unions from having to request exemptions when recruiting directors who also serve at other institutions. The proposal would also remove an existing “rebuttable presumption” that a management interlock will not lessen competition if the institution adding the official is controlled or managed by minority-group members or women. The NCUA stated the presumption raises Equal Protection concerns.

The second proposal would “simplify” the NCUA’s share insurance regulations in 12 CFR Part 741 by stripping out cross-reference provisions that point to substantive rules housed elsewhere in the agency’s code. The NCUA said the changes are intended to shorten the regulatory text without changing any underlying compliance obligations.