National Credit Union Administration
Hood was appointed to the NCUA board by President George W. Bush and served from November 2005 until August 2009. [4] He was appointed vice chairman and served as the NCUA's representative on the board of NeighborWorks America. [3]
Hood was again nominated to the board of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) on January 19,2019,by President Donald Trump. [5] [6] The senate confirmed his appointment on March 14,2019. He took the oath of office on April 8,2019. [7] This appointment made Hood the first African-American head of a federal banking regulatory agency. [8]
Hood became chairman of the NCUA board upon his swearing-in on April 8,2019. He served as chairman until January 20,2021,when President Joe Biden appointed Todd Harper to the position. As chairman,Hood served as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. He also represented the NCUA on the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee and as vice chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. [3] Hood continued his service on the board after being succeeded by Todd Harper as chairman in 2021. He left the board in January of 2024. [9]
During his service on the NCUA board,Hood was a proponent of fintech and artificial intelligence in finance. Hood also supported the formation of new credit unions. [2]
Hood is a supporter of financial inclusion. He has called it the "civil rights issue of our time." Hood has supported regulatory changes to better serve the underbanked. [10]
In early 2020,the NCUA changed its nonmember deposit rule to allow credit unions to have public unit and nonmember shares totaling up to the greater of 50% of net paid-in and unimpaired capital and surplus or $3 million. This rule change significantly improved the liquidity of credit unions. [10]
Under Hood,the NCUA changed its low-income designation rule to include military personnel in 2020. This change gave members of the armed forces a status similar to that of students pursuing tertiary education. This in turn made it easier to qualify for low-income credit union (LICU) status. Being designated an LICU has benefits including exemption from the statutory cap on member business lending,eligibility for grants and loans from the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund,the ability to accept deposits from non-members,and increased access to capital. The banking industry was critical of this change. [10]
In 2021,Hood supported the NCUA’s liberalization and streamlining of its derivative rule. This change was designed to make it easier for credit unions to manage interest rate risk. [10]
In 2022,Hood supported the NCUA’s reform of its rule on subordinated debt. The rule change counted secondary capital as subordinated debt. It also increased the number of credit unions allowed to use subordinated debt to calculate their risk-based capital and net worth. Under the new rule,all LICUs,complex credit unions,and newly established credit unions were permitted to issue subordinated debt subject to regulatory approval. [10]
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
On February 7,2025,Hood was made the Acting Comptroller of the Currency by operation of law after being appointed First Deputy Comptroller by Scott Bessent,the Secretary of the Treasury,in place of Michael J. Hsu. [11] By virtue of holding this position,Hood serves as an ex officio director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. [12]
Immediately after assuming office,Hood removed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System. He issued a statement saying this action was taken because climate change did not fall within the statutory responsibilities of his agency. [13]
At Hood's direction,the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1183 to affirm that a wide range of cryptocurrency activities are legally permissible for nationally-chartered banks and other financial institutions. The letter specifically addressed custody of cryptocurrencies and participating in independent node verification networks such as distributed ledgers. The letter also ended the requirement for OCC-supervised entities to receive regulatory pre-clearance for such activities. [14] Hood also expressed support for regulatory sandboxes for banks and fintech firms. [15]
