National Credit Union Administration March 23, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed Senate Bill 4036 into law, which, among other things, amends the statutory definitions of ``net worth'' and ``equity ratio'' in the Federal Credit Union Act. NCUA proposes to make conforming amendments to the definition of ``net worth'' as it appears in NCUA's Prompt Corrective Action regulation and the definition of ``equity ratio'' as it appears in NCUA's Requirements for Insurance regulation. NCUA also proposes to make technical changes in other regulations to ensure clarity and consistency in the use of the term ``net worth,'' as it is applied to federally-insured credit unions.

In 2010, NCUA issued an Interim Final Rule expanding the definition of ``low-risk assets'' to include debt instruments on which the payment of principal and interest is unconditionally guaranteed by NCUA. Assets in this category receive a risk-weighting of zero for regulatory capital purposes to reflect the absence of credit risk. Having considered the public comments addressing the Interim Final Rule, NCUA is issuing this Final Rule permanently adopting the expanded definition of ``low risk assets'' without alteration.