WASHINGTON - (04/15/05) -- A decade-long odyssey ended Thursdaywhen the House overwhelmingly voted passage of the bankruptcyreform bill. This is the second time the credit union-backed billhas been passed by Congress but it died in 2000 when then-PresidentClinton refused to sign it into law. This time, President Bush haspromised to sign the bill. "To say that this is long overdue wouldbe an understatement," John McKechnie, chief lobbyist for CUNA,told The Credit Union Journal, of the 302-126 vote. The bill willenact a means-based bankruptcy system, preventing those debtors whohave some financial means to repay debts form filing a Chapter 7 toerase all debts, and relegating them instead to a Chapter 13financial reorganization. Those with insufficient assets or incomecould still file a Chapter 7. Those with income above the state'smedian income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years - $100 amonth - would be forced into Chapter 13. Credit unionrepresentatives say the mean-based system will help credit unionscollect as much as much as 15% on debts owed by bankruptcy filers,an estimated $65 million a year in increased collections for creditunions. "This means that somewhere between ten-andfifteen-percentof the money credit unions discharge could go back into the creditunion system. You're talking about a lot of dollars," said MurrayChanow, a lobbyist for NAFCU. The bill also includes two other maincredit union priorities, mandatory financial education for allbankruptcy filers, and the continued ability of credit unions andtheir members to enter into reaffirmation, or voluntary repayment,agreements during bankruptcy. The new law is scheduled to takeeffect six months after the President signs it.
-
As AI and digital assets become mainstream, banks are spotting new opportunities to integrate payments with other activities.
July 4 -
House Republicans overcame internal divisions to narrowly pass President Trump's tax and spending package Thursday afternoon. The measure would cut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding level, among other provisions.
July 3 -
A new partnership with Google Cloud will let the Spanish bank offer Gemini to all staff after a successful ChatGPT deployment.
July 3 -
Atlanta-based CoastalSouth's initial public offering prices at $21.50 a share; Valley National Bancorp announces Lyndsey Sloan will succeed Gary Michael as general counsel; Webster Financial Corporation taps a new chief risk officer and appoints a new board member; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
July 3 -
Capital One closed the deal to buy the credit card provider in May and as part of the review process, decided to exit its home equity lending business.
July 3 -
In a rare move for a credit union, the Seattle institution has snapped up the 13-member team that created EarnUp's AI Advisor product.
July 3