On November 3, the NCUA announced the fourteenth round of its “Deregulation Project,” consisting of two final rules and one interim final rule. In the first final rule, the NCUA adopted without change an April 27, 2020, interim final rule issued under the CARES Act, under which federally insured credit unions may continue to assign a zero percent risk weight to PPP loans and neutralize the regulatory capital effects of participating in the Fed’s PPP Liquidity Facility. The rule also finalizes the exclusion of PPP loans from the definition of “commercial loan” in the NCUA’s member business lending rule. In the second final rule, which relates to NCUA regulations regarding federal credit unions’ statutory lien authority, the NCUA removed 12 CFR 701.39(a)(1), which defined the phrase “except as otherwise provided by law or except as otherwise provided by federal law.” The NCUA stated that the language “has no material value” and that its removal neither lessens a federal credit union’s obligation to identify other applicable laws nor affects credit unions’ statutory lien authority or existing legal obligations.

Through an interim final rule, the NCUA also removed the transitional provision at 12 CFR 723.9, a provision the agency adopted to address existing waivers and enforcement constraints related to commercial lending and member business loans when it substantially revised its commercial lending regulation in 2016. According to the agency, the provision has “served its purpose,” and loans previously grandfathered will not change their status. Although the NCUA invoked the APA’s “good cause” exception to forgo prior notice and comment, it is requesting comments, which are due January 4, 2027. The PPP final rule and the interim final rule took effect upon publication in the Federal Register on November 4. The statutory lien final rule takes effect December 4.