The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has announced a third round of proposed regulatory changes as part of its ongoing Deregulation Project. The project is intended to ensure that regulations remain focused on the safety, soundness, and resilience of credit unions by removing or revising rules that are considered obsolete, overly burdensome, duplicative, or unnecessary guidance.
In this latest round, the NCUA Board is seeking public comments on four proposals aimed at clarifying agency guidance and eliminating requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations that may no longer be needed.
One proposal would remove 12 CFR 701.31 regarding nondiscrimination requirements. According to the NCUA, “NCUA will no longer attempt to summarize requirements more appropriately issued by other agencies.” The agency states this change does not alter credit unions’ compliance obligations under laws such as the FHA and ECOA but aims to reduce confusion from outdated regulation. More information can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2026-00591/nondiscrimination-requirements.
Another proposal targets Interpretive Ruling and Policy Statement (IRPS) 08-2 related to service in underserved areas. The NCUA proposes eliminating this standard to “ease the compliance burden on FCUs by limiting the number of sources that FCUs must check to ensure compliance with applicable chartering and FOM requirements.” Details are available at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-00592.pdf.
The Board also suggests rescinding IRPS 10-1 concerning community chartering policies for similar reasons. This move is expected to “eliminate a redundant standard currently listed in more than one area,” which would reduce compliance efforts for federal credit unions (FCUs). Additional information is provided at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-00594.pdf.
Finally, IRPS 11-2 covering federal corporate credit union chartering may also be rescinded. According to the NCUA, “This proposed rescission would remove guidance regarding procedures and timelines for chartering federal corporate credit unions,” consolidating necessary information into a single manual. More details can be found at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-00595.pdf.
Stakeholders are encouraged to review these notices of proposed rulemakings and submit their comments via the Federal Rulemaking Portal.
The NCUA was established by Congress in 1970 to regulate, charter, and supervise federal credit unions and manages the Share Insurance Fund insuring deposits for over 145 million account holders nationwide according to its official website. As a U.S. government agency headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia [source], it provides oversight for federally insured institutions and offers resources such as online tools for submissions and insurance coverage estimators.
For more information about these proposals or about the Deregulation Project overall, visit https://ncua.gov/news/deregulation-project.
