NCUA Allows Flexibility for Meetings in 2022

On November 15, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued Letter 21-FCU-06 advising of the administration’s flexibility for meetings in 2022. With the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCUA has extended the flexibility for federal credit unions to conduct meetings virtually in 2022.

According to the standard federal credit union bylaws, a federal credit union may adopt, at any time, by a two-thirds vote of its Board of Directors, the following bylaw amendment to Article IV which addresses annual and special meetings without additional approvals by the NCUA:

Section 6. Emergency exception to in-person quorum requirement. This credit union may hold its annual meeting of the members, the required in-person regular meeting of the Board of Directors under Article VI, and special member meetings for authorized purposes other than member expulsion under Article XIV of these bylaws, virtually and without an in-person quorum if all of the following conditions apply and are certified in meeting minutes by a resolution of the majority of a quorum of the Board of Directors:

• At least one of the following is located in an area where a federal, state, or local authority has declared a state of emergency or major disaster:
  1. all or part of a community the credit union serves; or
  2. the credit union’s headquarters.
• The credit union has the technological capacity to facilitate virtual meeting attendance, voting, and participation.
• Members receive at least seven days’ advance notice of the change of a member meeting to a virtual meeting format and appropriate instructions for how to join, participate, and vote during the virtual meeting.
• The NCUA has issued general or specific guidance notifying the credit union that it is appropriate to invoke this bylaw provision.

A federal credit union may choose to adopt the amendment with or without the underlined language related to meetings of the Board of Directors.

Credit unions who have adopted this bylaw amendment may invoke its provisions at any point in 2022 with the credit union Board’s approval. General quorum requirements must still be met for all-virtual meetings.

Compliance updates and support from Aux are brought to you as a benefit of your credit unions membership with the Tennessee League. The compliance team at Aux is available to help out if you have a compliance question or need additional guidance. Please send your compliance questions to: compliance@yourleague.org.