Compliance

Recent Hill actions prove the CU voice is heard in Washington. Mark Wolff Credit unions are known in Washington, D.C., for the power of their grassroots-based political involvement. A significant portion of the Credit Union National Association’s (CUNA) advocacy efforts go to grassroots cultivation. There’s the Hike the Hill program... READ MORE

The first six months saw great challenges. More will come. Daniel A. Mica It has been said that time has no divisions to mark its passage. It’s just us humans who bang a drum, shoot off some fireworks, or declare a holiday to celebrate the moment. So, here’s a very... READ MORE

By Valerie Moss Q Are credit unions required to provide member education as a part of their identity theft red flag programs?   A No. The regulation calls for staff training as necessary to implement the program. Even though member education isn't mentioned as a required program element, it’s still... READ MORE

LEAD STORY Have hundreds of cable channels and the popularity of digital video recorders (DVR) rendered credit union television advertising obsolete? Nathan Tothrow doesn’t think so. “A lot of folks say TV advertising is dead because of DVR. But there’s not enough data to make that assertion,” says the vice... READ MORE

Review your practices, policies, and procedures to determine if you want to continue to use multifeatured open-end lending as a primary consumer lending strategy. READ MORE

Karen Saul Pay close attention to the Supreme Court’s decision on retaliation. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids retaliation against employees reporting discrimination. The Supreme Court recently ruled that protection extends to employees who don’t initiate discrimination complaints but who divulge discrimination occurred when asked during... READ MORE

Mary Dunn One positive development is federal legislation to amend the Federal CU Act. The National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) assistance to the corporate credit union system remains the chief topic of frustration and concern throughout the credit union system, based on the telephone calls and e-mails the Credit Union... READ MORE

Valerie Moss CUs have specific responsibilities as furnishers and users of credit reports. There’s much more to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) identity (ID) theft requirements than the red flag rules. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act amendments to the FCRA established requirements for credit bureaus, financial... READ MORE

Michael McLain Some attorneys balk due to concerns about liability or clients’ ability to pay. Ease the anxieties of debtors’ attorneys, and your reaffirmation agreements are more likely to stick. Ordinarily, when a debtor’s attorney participates in reaffirmation agreement negotiations during a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the reaffirmation must contain a... READ MORE

Valerie Moss Gambling reg has implications for CU transactions and relationships. Credit unions participating in certain payment systems will have to verify at account opening that their member businesses aren’t Internet gambling outfits and have procedures in place to prevent restricted transactions. That’s according to a regulation effective Jan. 19... READ MORE

If you remember last summer, NCUA’s Office of Consumer Protection notified over 1000 federal credit unions across the country of their eligibility for low income designation.  NCUA’s initiative was in part due to President Obama’s relief and recovery package to help drought stricken states across the country.   Many of you accepted the designation; however, do [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase only qualified mortgages as of January 10, 2014. For those of us that follow the secondary mortgage market and compliance regulations, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.   The new CFPB rule allows for loans to be underwritten as either [...]

It’s here! Last week the CFPB issued the new final version of the remittance transfer rule. The final rule, which was originally supposed to be effective in February, has now been re-issued. The CFPB has given financial institutions additional time to comply with the rule so the new effective date is October 28, 2013. This [...]