Insights & perspective

Lending, Credit, and Risk Insights

A space for practical commentary on lending strategy, underwriting discipline, and risk management for community banks and credit unions.

Latest Articles

Practical commentary on lending strategy, underwriting discipline, and risk management for community banks and credit unions.

Series: NCUA's 2026 Examination Priorities

A 5-part deep dive into what examiners are focused on this year — and how credit unions can prepare before the exam cycle begins.

  1. 1. NCUA's Top Examination Priorities for 2026
  2. 2. Credit Risk Management: What Examiners Really Want to See
  3. 3. ACL & CECL: Building a Defensible Allowance Methodology (coming soon)
  4. 4. Liquidity, ALM & Interest Rate Risk in a Higher-Rate Environment (coming soon)
  5. 5. Third-Party Risk, Fraud & Operational Resilience (coming soon)
Credit union lending team reviewing loan documentation
NEW Regulatory Insight · Series Part 2

Credit Risk Management: What NCUA Examiners Really Want to See in 2026

Lending Advisors Inc.  ·  Published July 22, 2026  ·  9 min read

Examiners aren't looking for perfect loans. They're looking for evidence of sound risk management — from underwriting consistency and policy exceptions to concentration risk and portfolio monitoring.

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Regulatory Insight · Series Part 1

NCUA's Top Examination Priorities for 2026: What Every Credit Union Should Be Doing Now

Lending Advisors Inc.  ·  Published June 15, 2026  ·  6 min read

Examiners are taking an increasingly risk-based approach in 2026. Here are the five areas receiving the greatest NCUA attention and how your institution can prepare before examiners arrive.

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