Credit unions will be assessed 25 basis points (bp) of their total insured shares to help cover corporate credit union stabilization costs, the National Credit Union Administration voted today. The agency expects it to bring $1.96 billion into the fund. Read More

While Washington has remained quiet for most of August, CUNA has continued its work on the regulatory front, meeting this week to discuss the credit union regulatory burden, and other top credit union issues, with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) representatives. Read More

CUNA commended the National Credit Union Administration for its plan to allow credit unions to hedge their interest-rate risk with financial derivatives saying credit unions need many tools to facilitate their operations as possible, provided they are consistent with vigilant risk management on the credit union's part and reasonable supervision from regulators. Read More

As CUNA works to compile a comprehensive list of credit unions' regulatory burdens to send to federal regulators and continue to seek their aid to provide relief, CUNA is asking credit unions to send their views on what rules unnecessarily encumber operations. Read More

During a Bank Secrecy Act webinar hosted by CUNA Friday, Judy Graham, of the National Credit Union Administration's office of examination and insurance, said examiners identify risk assessments and staff training as two top areas of compliance problems.  Read More

Regulatory burdens in the form of higher compliance costs could lead to more credit union mergers, Bill Hampel, CUNA chief economist, told The Washington Post Sunday. Read More

In a recent Regulatory Alert (11-RA-04), the National Credit Union Administration offers guidance intended to help credit unions comply with an joint interim final rule that addresses garnishment of accounts that include federal benefits payments

The joint rule was issued by the U.S. Treasury, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Office of Personnel Management and pertains to the following benefit payments:
• Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits;
• Veterans benefits;
• Federal Railroad retirement, unemployment and sickness benefits;
• Civil Service Retirement System benefits; and
• Federal Employees Retirement System benefits.

Read More.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘‘OFAC’’) has published additional identifying information associated with the four entities listed in the Annex to Executive Order 13581 of July 24, 2011, ‘‘Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations.’’  Read More.

Draft National Flood Insurance Plan (NFIP) reforms could have the unintended effect of driving some small mortgage lenders, including credit unions, out of the mortgage business, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and related trade groups have warned.

At issue is Section 111 of an NFIP reform discussion draft, which would require all mortgage lenders to escrow for NFIP premiums. Current law only requires lenders that escrow for taxes and insurance to also escrow for NFIP premiums.  Read More.

Credit unions that participate in federal government programs, such as holding Treasury tax-and-loan accounts or acting as issuing or paying agents for U.S. savings bonds, are considered federal contractors under the Department of Labor’s nondiscrimination and affirmative action rules.  But, is federal share insurance issued by the NCUSIF considered a federal contract as well?

Whether you get a “yes” or “no” answer to this question will depend on who you ask: NCUA will tell you that the long-standing answer to this question is no.  Federal share insurance is not a federal contract triggering affirmative action obligations.  But, if you ask the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the answer is yes.  So, what’s a federally insured credit union to do?  Read more at CUNA's Compliance Blog.