The National Credit Union Administration has removed a transition provision from its member-business-loan and commercial-lending regulations, effective November 4. The agency says outstanding loans that were grandfathered under the provision remain grandfathered.
This is an interim final rule, already effective while comments remain open through January 4, 2027.
What the section covered
The rule removes and reserves section 723.9. According to NCUA's background account, the section accompanied its 2016 shift from prescriptive commercial-lending requirements to a principles-based approach. The transition section became generally effective January 1, 2017.
One part addressed previously approved waivers. Most became moot when the underlying restrictions were eliminated. An exception allowed existing debt relationships under certain borrowing-relationship waivers to continue, while prohibiting an increase in the associated debt.
Another part stated that existing enforcement constraints, including conditions imposed through written NCUA directives, were unaffected by the new framework and would remain until formally modified or removed by the agency.
What this action does
NCUA says those transitional circumstances no longer make the section useful for credit unions' ongoing operations. It calls the text outdated and expressly states that outstanding grandfathered loans retain that status.
The operative amendment removes the transition section; it does not set a new aggregate business-lending limit or grant an individual loan application. No particular borrower, waiver or enforcement directive is resolved in the published action.
The agency invoked the Administrative Procedure Act's good-cause exception to issue the change without advance notice and comment. It nevertheless requests comments on the removal and says it will consider whether further changes are needed.
How to comment
Use docket NCUA-2026-1884 through the federal rulemaking portal, or the mail or delivery methods in the notice. NCUA says comments may be anonymous, warns against including information the commenter does not want publicly disclosed, and says submissions will be displayed exactly as received.