The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should consider meaningful exemptions for credit unions and other small financial institutions as it develops new mortgage servicing rules, American Southwest CU CEO Brian Barkdull said at a CFPB Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel discussion held this week in Washington.  More

On February 28, 2012, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) published a notice and request for information regarding the impacts of overdraft programs on consumers (the Overdraft Notice). The Overdraft Notice allowed a 60-day comment period, closing on April 30, 2012.  To allow parties more time to consider and craft their responses, the CFPB has extended the comment period until June 29, 2012.  Read the Federal Register notice here.  To help credit unions respond to this important request, CUNA has developed an on-line survey for gathering information.  We encourage you to complete the short survey to help ensure that credit unions’ interests are well represented with the CFPB and any future rulemaking that might be undertaken.  Go to the CUNA Survey.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier this year distributed questionnaires to financial institutions to help evaluate how those institutions' overdraft policies affect consumers, and CUNA has responded, developing its own short 12-question survey designed to obtain information from credit unions regarding their overdraft protection, overdraft transfer, and overdraft marketing practices.  More

The U.S. Department of the Treasury 's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') published the names of 2 individuals and 16 entities whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (``Kingpin Act'') (21 U.S.C. 1901-1908, 8 U.S.C. 1182).  Read more.

Small credit unions should be just as concerned as large ones about violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, said CUNA Mutual Director of Regulatory Compliance Bill Klewin.  More

Changes to the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) 1042-S reporting requirements will create a new compliance burden for credit unions, CUNA Deputy General Counsel Mary Mitchell Dunn has warned.  More

A group that identifies itself as a coalition of conservative, libertarian and free-market organizations voiced support Thursday for increased member business lending for credit unions and encouraged lawmakers to vote in favor of legislation that would achieve that end. The group called Sen. Mark Udall's (D-Colo.) Small Business Lending Enhancement Act of 2012 (S. 2231) "a sound, free-market, deregulatory action that will create jobs, help small business, and assist veterans."  More

Lawsuits brought against credit unions and banks alleging violations of the ATM-fee disclosure provisions in the Electronics Funds Transfer Act are on the increase again, this time on the West Coast with the latest filed Thursday against a credit union in Washington state.  More

Although gas retailers in the U.S. are saving $1 billion a year through the subsidy provided by the Dodd-Frank Act's interchange fee provision, they are not passing the savings on to consumers, according to a new study from the Electronic Payments Coalition.

The interchange amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act has seen interchange rates reduced by 70% for debit card payments for gasoline, said EPC, which is a coalition of banks, credit unions and card networks opposed to the interchange rules. Dodd-Frank capped what retailers pay to accept debit interchange beginning last October.  More

The U.S. Department of the Treasury 's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') published the name of one individual whose property and interests in property has been blocked pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (``Kingpin Act'') (21 U.S.C. 1901-1908, 8 U.S.C. 1182).  Read more.