Opening the meeting Chairman Hood announced the RBC topic had been withdrawn. Moving away from the RBC discussion will allow NCUA to proceed with a refocused effort toward doing the work of helping credit unions find ways to help our members – especially in these unprecedented and trying times. I ask you to consider Vaaler’s paper clip and let RBC discussions and concept expire – for good. This (new leverage framework) capital adequacy standard is the same calculation that the credit union industry has been using for over 100 years and banking regulators have concluded there is no benefit and high cost burden to move to RBC. The FDIC, FED and OCC have unanimously ended RBC requirements and all the work related to its calculation.From their September 2019 press release: “The leverage framework will greatly simplify regulatory determinations regarding capital adequacy and eliminate the need for qualifying community banking organizations to calculate and report quarterly risk-based capital ratios in their Call Reports.” Many paper clip versions can be seen today but Fay’s original design, with the greatest history and track record of performance, leads the industry.
He went so far as to claim it better, campaign and erect sculptures in its honor, but the failure of this design was its impracticality. A different design to accomplish, in essence, the same goal. In 1899, Johan Vaaler tried to reinvent it. It worked and evolved its uses with the same foundational design to the tune of 11 billion purchased annually. Fay was trying to find a tool to easily attach tickets to fabrics. In 1867, Samuel Fay invented the paper clip. An Email of Public Interest in the MeetingĪ friend forwarded a copy of a credit union CEO’s email to the NCUA Board prior to the meeting: Without transparency, actions become suspect. Listeners heard, as described below, that the agenda had changed with no explanation. They point to the powerful role of public information in discussion, analysis and decision-making, especially in regulation.
The words convey a basic truth of democratic governance. The paper’s first slogan was aired in a 2017 super bowl ad. As I listened to NCUA’s streaming Board meeting Thursday, June 25, I was reminded of this phrase on the Washington Post’s masthead : Democracy Dies in Darkness.