The NCUA Board (Board) is issuing this final rule to further strengthen succession planning efforts for all consumer federally insured credit unions (FICUs). This final rule requires that a FICU board of directors establish a written succession plan that addresses specified positions and contains certain information. In addition, the board of directors is required to regularly review the succession plan. The final rule also requires that newly appointed members of the board of directors have a working familiarity with the succession plan no later than six months after appointment. The final rule follows publication of a July 25, 2024, proposed rule and takes into consideration the public comments received on the proposed rule. In response to comments, the Board has amended the proposal to provide that a credit union board must review its succession plan no less than every 24 months, as opposed to the annual review that would have been required under the proposed rule. The Board has also revised the proposed rule by removing loan officers, credit committee members, and supervisory committee members from the list of FICU officials that must be covered by the succession plans. In addition, non-substantive changes have been made to the wording used in the list of covered officials for purposes of clarity. The final rule also streamlines the required contents of the succession plans and no longer requires that deviations from approved succession plans be documented in the FICU board's meeting minutes. Further, to help ensure that FICUs have the necessary time to develop their succession plans, the Board is delaying the effective date of the final rule until January 1, 2026.