California’s Credit Unions and Nevada’s Credit Unions — along with Silver State Schools Credit Union CEO and Nevada’s Credit Unions Board Chair Scott Arkills — joined other league presidents and advocates this week for a regulatory discussion with National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Western Region Director Julie Cayse.

During the dialogue, which was part of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues’ (AACUL) Winter Conference in Rancho Mirage, CA, Cayse opened with an update on the NCUA Western Region’s trends. She talked about increasing loan charge-offs and delinquencies, early signs of stress in commercial real estate, subordinated debt activity, credit union bank purchases, and ongoing challenges related to records retention requirements.

Joining Cayse were senior western regional NCUA leaders Christine LaPointe, Sheila Beaudette, and John Shook. Attendees had the opportunity to raise priority issues impacting both state and federally chartered credit unions across the NCUA’s Western Region.

The discussion focused on:

• Exam Consistency and Burden: variability in exam scope and onsite time, duplicative document requests, expectations for remote exams, specialist deployment, and clarity on exam cycles for both federal and state-chartered credit unions.
• Staffing and Supervisory Resilience: the impact of reduced NCUA examiner staffing — and similar challenges at state agencies — on oversight, joint exams, and reliance on state regulator work.
• Communication and Professionalism: concerns about examiner conduct, exam focus, and appropriateness of board-level exam exit communications.
• Fraud Trends and Enforcement: enforcement referrals, coordination with law enforcement, and emerging fraud patterns seen in the region.
• Records Retention (Part 749): the need for clearer guidance on what constitutes a “permanent record.”
• Emerging Issues: stablecoin supervisory considerations, digital-asset readiness, impacts of potential Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) structural changes, guidance related to reputational risk, and support needed during NCUA restructuring.
• Small Credit Union Support: reduced examiner consulting capacity and opportunities for credit union leagues to assist with succession planning and operational guidance.
• Future Direction for the NCUA’s Western Region: how the NCUA defines success in the Western Region and how credit unions can expect to interact with the agency in the coming years.

“We appreciate the candid dialogue and the continued collaboration with Director Cayse and her team,” said Lisa Quaranta, vice president of regulatory advocacy for California’s Credit Unions and Nevada’s Credit Unions. “We look forward to working together to support a strong and effective regulatory environment for credit unions.”