Supervising Community Development Credit Unions

Dear Board of Directors:

Enclosed is a white paper entitled, Supervising Community Development Credit Unions—Balancing Their Mission and NCUA’s Regulatory Responsibilities. We recently distributed this guidance paper to all NCUA examiners. Its primary purpose is to better understand the unique challenges community development credit unions (CDCU) face. However, the contents of the white paper are applicable to all credit unions in their continuing efforts to serve members of modest means.

One of the primary reasons for the creation of credit unions is to make credit available to people of modest means for productive purposes. Discussions with a group of dedicated CDCU officials helped form the basis for this white paper. You may find the enclosed guidance helpful if you have a low-income designation or you serve communities and in particular, underserved areas.