§ 703.14 Permissible investments. ( a ) *Variable rate investment.* A federal credit union may invest in a variable rate investment, as long as the index is tied to domestic interest rates. Except in the case of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, the variable rate investment cannot, for example, be tied to foreign currencies, foreign interest rates, domestic or foreign commodity prices, equity prices, or inflation rates. For purposes of this part, the U.S. dollar-denominated London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is a domestic interest rate.
( b ) *Corporate credit union shares or deposits.* A Federal credit union may purchase shares or deposits in a corporate credit union, except where the NCUA Board has notified it that the corporate credit union is not operating in compliance with part 704 of this chapter. A Federal credit union's aggregate amount of perpetual and nonperpetual capital, as defined in part 704 of this chapter, in one corporate credit union is limited to two percent of the federal credit union's assets measured at the time of investment or adjustment. A Federal credit union's aggregate amount of contributed capital in all corporate credit unions is limited to four percent of assets measured at the time of investment or adjustment.
( c ) *Registered investment company.* A Federal credit union may invest in a registered investment company or collective investment fund, as long as the prospectus of the company or fund restricts the investment portfolio to investments and investment transactions that are permissible for Federal credit unions.
( d ) *Collateralized mortgage obligation/real estate mortgage investment conduit.* A Federal credit union may invest in a fixed or variable rate collateralized mortgage obligation/real estate mortgage investment conduit.
( e ) *Municipal security.* A Federal credit union may purchase and hold a municipal security, as defined in section 107(7)(K) of the Act, only if it conducts and documents an analysis that reasonably concludes the security is at least investment grade. The Federal credit union must also limit its aggregate municipal securities holdings to no more than 75 percent of the Federal credit union's net worth and limit its holdings of municipal securities issued by any single issuer to no more than 25 percent of the Federal credit union's net worth.
( f ) *Instruments issued by institutions described in Section 107(8) of the Act.* A Federal credit union may invest in the following instruments issued by an institution described in Section 107(8) of the Act: ( 1 ) Yankee dollar deposits;
( 2 ) Eurodollar deposits;
( 3 ) Banker's acceptances;
( 4 ) Deposit notes; and
( 5 ) Bank notes with weighted average maturities of less than 5 years.
( g ) *European financial options contract.* A Federal credit union may purchase a European financial options contract or a series of European financial options contracts only to fund the payment of dividends on member share certificates where the dividend rate is tied to an equity index provided: ( 1 ) The option and dividend rate are based on a domestic equity index;
( 2 ) Proceeds from the options are used only to fund dividends on the equity-linked share certificates;
( 3 ) Dividends on the share certificates are derived solely from the change in the domestic equity index over a specified period;
( 4 ) The options' expiration dates are no later than the maturity date of the share certificate.
( 5 ) The certificate may be redeemed prior to the maturity date only upon the member's death or termination of the corresponding option;
( 6 ) The total costs associated with the purchase of the option is known by the Federal credit union prior to effecting the transaction;
( 7 ) The options are purchased at the same time the certificate is issued to the member.
( 8 ) The counterparty to the transaction is a domestic counterparty and has been approved by the Federal credit union's board of directors;
( 9 ) The counterparty to the transaction meets the minimum credit quality standards as approved by the Federal credit union's board of directors.
( 10 ) Any collateral posted by the counterparty is a permissible investment for Federal credit unions and is valued daily by an independent third party along with the value of the option;
( 11 ) The aggregate amount of equity-linked member share certificates does not exceed 50 percent of the Federal credit union's net worth;
( 12 ) The terms of the share certificate include a guarantee that there can be no loss of principal to the member regardless of changes in the value of the option unless the certificate is redeemed prior to maturity; and
( 13 ) The Federal credit union provides its board of directors with a monthly report detailing at a minimum: ( i ) The dollar amount of outstanding equity-linked share certificates;
( ii ) Their maturities; and
( iii ) The fair value of the options as determined by an independent third party.
( h ) *Mortgage note repurchase transactions.* A federal credit union may invest in securities that are offered and sold pursuant to section 4(5) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. 77d(5), only as a part of an investment repurchase agreement under § 703.13(c), subject to the following conditions: ( 1 ) The aggregate of the investments with any one counterparty is limited to 25 percent of the Federal credit union's net worth and 50 percent of its net worth with all counterparties;
( 2 ) At the time the Federal credit union purchases the securities, the counterparty, or a party fully guaranteeing the counterparty, must meet the minimum credit quality standards as approved by the Federal credit union's board of directors.
( 3 ) The federal credit union must obtain a daily assessment of the market value of the securities under § 703.13(c)(1) using an independent qualified agent;
( 4 ) The mortgage note repurchase transaction is limited to a maximum term of 90 days;
( 5 ) All mortgage note repurchase transactions will be conducted under tri-party custodial agreements; and
( 6 ) A federal credit union must obtain an undivided interest in the securities.
( i ) *Zero-coupon investments.* A federal credit union may only purchase a zero-coupon investment with a maturity date that is no greater than 10 years from the related settlement date, unless authorized under § 703.20 or otherwise provided in this paragraph. A federal credit union that received a composite CAMELS rating of “1” or “2” for the last two (2) full examinations and maintained a capital classification of “well capitalized” under part 702 of this chapter for the six (6) immediately preceding quarters may purchase a zero-coupon investment with a maturity date that is no greater than 30 years from the related settlement date.
( j ) *Commercial mortgage related security (CMRS).* A federal credit union may purchase a CMRS permitted by Section 107(7)(E) of the Act; and, pursuant to Section 107(15)(B) of the Act, a CMRS of an issuer other than a government-sponsored enterprise enumerated in Section 107(7)(E) of the Act, provided: ( 1 ) The Federal credit union conducts and documents a credit analysis that reasonably concludes the CMRS is at least investment grade.
( 2 ) The CMRS meets the definition of mortgage related security as defined in 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(41) and the definition of commercial mortgage related security as defined in § 703.2 of this part;
( 3 ) The CMRS's underlying pool of loans contains more than 50 loans with no one loan representing more than 10 percent of the pool; and
( 4 ) The aggregate amount of private label CMRS purchased by the federal credit union does not exceed 25 percent of its net worth, unless authorized under § 703.20 or as otherwise provided in this paragraph (j)(4). A federal credit union that has received a composite CAMELS rating of “1” or “2” for the last two (2) full examinations and maintained a capital classification of “well capitalized” under part 702 of this chapter for the six (6) immediately preceding quarters may hold private label CMRS in an aggregate amount not to exceed 50% of its net worth.
( k ) *Loan pipeline management.* A Federal credit union may enter into the following transactions related to the management of its loan pipeline: ( 1 ) Interest rate lock commitments and forward sales commitments; and
( 2 ) Transactions to manage Interest Rate Risk, as defined in subpart B of this part.
( l ) *Embedded options.* A Federal credit union may enter into embedded options not required under generally accepted accounting principles adopted in the United States (GAAP) to be accounted for separately from the host contract. Embedded options that are required, under GAAP, to be accounted for separately from the host contract, are addressed in § 703.103(b) of this part.
( m ) *Mortgage servicing assets.* A Federal credit union may purchase mortgage servicing assets from other federally insured credit unions if all of the following conditions are met: ( 1 ) The Federal credit union received a composite CAMELS rating of “1” or “2,” with a Management component rating of a “1” or “2,” for the last full examination;
( 2 ) The underlying mortgage loans of the mortgage servicing assets are loans the Federal credit union is empowered to grant;
( 3 ) The Federal credit union purchases the mortgage servicing assets within the limitations of its board of directors' written purchase policies; and
( 4 ) The Board of Directors or Investment Committee approves the purchase.
[68 FR 32960, June 3, 2003, as amended at 69 FR 39831, July 1, 2004; 71 FR 76124, Dec. 20, 2006; 75 FR 64826, Oct. 20, 2010; 77 FR 31991, May 31, 2012; 77 FR 74110, Dec. 13, 2012; 78 FR 13213 Feb. 27, 2013; 79 FR 5241, Jan. 31, 2014; 80 FR 66722, Oct. 29, 2015; 81 FR 17602, Mar. 30, 2016; 85 FR 62211, Oct. 2, 2020; 86 FR 28247, May 26, 2021; 86 FR 59288, Oct. 27, 2021; 86 FR 72818, Dec. 23, 2021]