NCUA Guaranteed Notes Prospectus Out October 12
SAN ANTONIO-NCUA should have a prospectus available around Oct. 12 on its new NCUA Guaranteed Notes, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz said last week.
Matz said the agency supports natural-person CUs investing in the NGNs when they become available. Those notes represent the corporate legacy assets that NCUA is securitizing and, in conjunction with Barclays, selling on the market. "We would like to see credit unions take a look at them and decide if they are in the best interests of the credit union," said Matz before NASCUS‚ annual meeting. We think these will be very good investments."
Matz clarified for one state regulator who said more information would be needed by noting, "these are federally insured securities. So they are really considered zero risk. It's like credit unions purchasing Treasuries."
CUNA Mutual, Kroll Partner To Offer Data Breach Coverage
MADISON, Wis.-CUNA Mutual Group has teamed with Kroll Inc. to offer a new insurance policy and related services that protect credit unions and their members in the event of an internal data breach that compromises sensitive member data.
Called Cyber & Security Incident (CSI) Package, the policy will become available to credit unions and other organizations today. CSI Package pairs a broad insurance policy with two levels of data breach services.
"The evolution of the cyber world and virtual servicing are creating an emerging set of new risk exposures for credit unions," said Chuck Cashman, director of CUNA Mutual Credit Union Protection Product Management. "Stolen laptops, employee sabotage, network hackers, lost data disks and negligent data disposal are some of the potentially catastrophic risks credit unions face."
Cashman explained the risks are linked to security incidents or direct breaches of credit union data, unlike the highly publicized third-party data breaches at retailers or merchant processors. "An internal data breach can result in more than lost data. It can damage a credit union's reputation, shake members' trust, and cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair."
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, 42 data breaches involving financial institutions have occurred in 2010, and 62 occurred in 2009. Additionally, the 2008 CUNA Technology & Spending Report stated more than 40% of CUs experienced at least one incident of ID theft in 2008.
The CSI Package has two available policies that address losses not typically covered by traditional insurance policies, according to Cashman. The CSI Basic Policy and the CSI Advantage Policy both contain liability and expense insurance components manufactured and underwritten by CUMIS Insurance Society, Inc., a member of the CUNA Mutual Group. Credit unions can select the entry-level basic policy or the Advantage Policy, which contains additional coverages, Cashman said.
66ers Want CU Name To Remain
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.-Officials with the Inland Empire 66ers, a minor league baseball team here, said they are hopeful that their field will continue to be named Arrowhead Credit Union Park through the end of 2011, even though NCUA has convserved the CU. Team executives and city officials said they have asked NCUA to honor the naming rights contract. Approximately one year remains on the 10-year contract Arrowhead CU signed with the 66ers and the city before the 2002 season. The contract is worth approximately $75,000 annually, $25,000 of which goes to the city.
Banks Stop Foreclosures In Process
NEW YORK-JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it is stopping 56,000 foreclosures in process pending a review of whether employees properly signed and verified information in foreclosure documents. The admission follows a similar disclosure last week by Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage it had halted evictions and property sales in 23 states due to process defects described in a deposition by a GMAC employee, who said he routinely signed off on court documents without verifying the information or having a witness present. JPMorgan Chase said some employees "may have signed affidavits about loan documents on the basis of file reviews done by other personnel-without the signer personally having reviewed those loan files." The mortgage servicer is reviewing documents in current foreclosure proceedings to verify that the affidavits and other documents "meet the standard of personal knowledge or review where that is required."
