NCUA trims rules on loan sales, suretyship, service contracts and chartering
Seven more of NCUA's 6 August 2026 final rules cut prescriptive text on buying and selling eligible obligations, suretyship collateral and service contracts, and rescind four interpretive rulings on chartering. All take effect on 8 September 2026.
This is the last of our posts on the eleven final rules NCUA published on 6 August 2026. The lending rules and the share insurance notices are covered separately. The remaining seven are mostly about federal credit unions, and every one takes effect on 8 September 2026.
Buying, selling and pledging eligible obligations
The rule on 12 CFR 701.23 (91 FR 50680) removes the lists of items that a federal credit union's purchase, sale and pledge policy had to cover, such as due diligence, underwriting and concentration limits. It also removes paragraph (g), a code of conduct that banned compensation broadly and then carved out a narrow list of exceptions.
What stays matters more. Federal credit unions must still keep a written purchase, sale and pledge policy, and sales must stay within the limits the board sets in writing. Conflicts of interest are now left to the credit union's bylaws and its officials' fiduciary duties. The Board's stated aim is "a principles-based approach that enables boards to exercise their business judgment."
Suretyship and guaranty
Under § 701.20, a credit union acting as surety or guarantor had to hold a segregated deposit or take a perfected security interest in collateral. The collateral had to cover 100 percent of the potential liability for cash and U.S. obligations, and 110 percent for real estate and marketable securities. The new rule (91 FR 50661) removes those requirements.
Two conditions remain. The credit union must limit "its obligations under the agreement to a fixed dollar amount and a specified duration," and performing on the agreement must create "an authorized loan that complies with the applicable lending regulations." So the lending rules, including the limits on loans to one member, still apply.
Service contracts
Section 701.26 is removed and reserved (91 FR 50674). It covered contracts for assets and services used in daily operations, including with other credit unions, and its main requirement was that the agreements be in writing. The Board said that contracting power is "inherent in its charter and its general powers under the FCU Act." The rule also adds paragraph (n), "Representative activities," to the incidental powers list in § 721.3. NCUA states that taking out § 701.26 does not change its expectations for written contracts, vendor oversight or third-party risk management.
Chartering rulings
Four Interpretive Rulings and Policy Statements are rescinded. IRPS 06-1 and IRPS 08-2 dealt with adding underserved areas; IRPS 10-1 dealt with community chartering; and IRPS 11-02 covered chartering corporate credit unions. In each case the Board said the chartering manual already holds the current requirements (Appendix B to 12 CFR part 701 for federal credit unions, and the Federal Corporate Credit Union Chartering Manual for corporates). The Board says none of the four rescissions changes substantive requirements.
What it could mean
We think the eligible obligations change is the one with real day-to-day effect, and it cuts both ways. A smaller credit union that buys participations now writes a policy that fits its program, without working through a mandated checklist. But the checklist was also a defence. When an examiner asks why the policy says nothing about concentration limits, "the regulation no longer lists it" is a weak answer. Our advice is to keep the old list as an internal prompt for the next policy review, even if you drop items that don't apply.
The compensation change deserves a board discussion. Paragraph (g) told you who couldn't be paid for a loan sale. Without it, your bylaws carry that weight, and many bylaws were not written with loan sale incentives in mind.
On suretyship, losing the 100 and 110 percent collateral rules gives credit unions more room to design guaranty products for business members. It also removes a backstop. A credit union that writes these should set its own collateral expectations in its lending procedures.
The service contracts and chartering rescissions are housekeeping. If your vendor management program cites § 701.26, change the citation and leave the program alone.