Capital Corner: 2026 Grab Bag

​As 2026 begins, there are several holdover credit union regulatory and judicial issues on the docket from last year that DCUC is working on.

​Here’s a quick overview:

CFPB Funding Still Hangs in the Balance
Federal Circuit Court judges in Washington will determine whether CFPB, controlled by Trump-administration appointee Russell Vought, violated the Administrative Procedure Act by declining to request dollars for the Bureau. In September Vought announced he would defund the CFPB by not drawing monies from the Fed as allowed by statute; Vought was then sued by the National Treasury Employees Union, the union representing workers at the Bureau.

The Federal court put an injunction in place to maintain CFPB’s operations until a decision is rendered, and Vought has (reluctantly, we presume) begun to request funding for the Bureau. Attorneys for both CFPB and NTEU expect a decision in the case to come sometime this winter.

Regardless of what happens in the courts, it’s clear that CFPB is a shell of what it was under the Biden Administration and former director Rohit Chopra. The aggressive CFPB guidance aimed at shaping the kinds of financial products credit unions can offer (think overdraft protection programs and credit cards), as well as broad enforcement actions undertaken to punish what CFPB termed as bad actors, have been rolled back by the Trump team.

Money Laundering Rules Up for Revision?
The Trump administration is showing an interest in reforming Bank Secrecy Act rules that could result in a less burdensome (and less costly) approach to compliance by credit unions and other financial service providers.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pointed to modernization of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and oversight as a priority for his Department. In a December statement Bessent said his staff was devising a new approach that would “re-center how financial institutions comply with rules aimed at preventing illicit finance. FinCEN, the division of Treasury responsible for policing AML and Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) say they are considering revisions of current rules that will reduce burdens and evaluate programs based on effectiveness and outcomes rather than what is termed “technical compliance” with processes.

Credit unions have long complained that they spend excessive amounts of time and effort on BSA compliance compared to actual violations and say that they file an overly large number of reports regardless of any law enforcement value. One credit union CEO described the existing BSA regime as “costly, overwhelming for both us and regulators, and disconnected with any goal of stopping illegal financial activities.”

FDIC Provides Failed Bank Template Documents—NCUA May Follow Suit
In December, FDIC released sample documents aimed at increasing transparency into the sale and marketing of failed banks. Newly minted FDIC Chairman Travis Hill described the initiative as working toward “a better-understood, competitive and nimble failed-bank marketing process” for banks in receivership.

Could NCUA copy and paste some of these fresh approaches for conserved and troubled credit unions? Although NCUA staff would not comment directly, senior NCUA sources note that existing processes may be updated to provide more detailed and timely information. Both voluntary and involuntary merger activity, and bank sales to credit unions could be included as part of an NCUA refresh in the coming year.

FDIC’s December templates cover such topics as sale of assets, purchase and assumption agreements, and nonbank acquirers, all of which could have relevance for credit union regulations in the future.