SPENCER BACHUS TO HEAD FINANCIAL SERVICES COMM.
WASHINGTON-U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, the Alabama Republican who was one of just seven House members to vote against HR 1151, the 1998 landmark CU Membership Access Act, but has proven a strong supporter of credit unions since then, was chosen by his Republican colleagues last week to chair the House Financial Services Committee in the next Congress.
Bachus, who won a tenth term in November, easily beat back a challenge from California's Ed Royce, another lawmaker with a reputation as a strong credit union supporter.
The support of the incoming Republican leadership will be critical in the next Congress after credit unions lost several key allies in this year's mid-term elections, including its leading veteran champion, Democrat Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania.
The ascension of Bachus, a staunch conservative, to chairman of the committee, signals a major change in direction for the key panel for credit unions from the activism of Chairman Barney Frank, the Massachusetts liberal who championed reform of credit card, overdraft and financial services reform.
Bachus was slow to warm to the credit union cause, emerging first as an occasional opponent of credit unions on behalf of the banking lobby, then as a major critic of NCUA through its hiring scandal in the 1990s, but has become a strong ally of credit unions in recent years, supporting efforts for regulatory relief, an increase in member business lending and the corporate credit union bailout.
Bachus, who served as chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions until the Democrats won control of the House in 2006, has indicated his agenda will include efforts to roll back several provisions of the recently passed Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act and to end the federal conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Senate Banking Committee will be chaired in the next Congress by Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who will get a head start on leading the panel tomorrow when he chairs a hearing on NCUA's handling of the corporate bailout.
FORMER CU FOE AT ABA HIRED AT WHITE SHOE LAW FIRM
WASHINGTON-Ed Yingling, the long-time credit union adversary as head of the American Bankers Association, is going to work as a banking lobbyist for the venerable New York law firm Covington & Burlington in its Washington office.
Yingling, who served as a lobbyist before being promoted to CEO at the American Bankers Association, will become a partner in the white shoe law firm, advising financial institutions on regulatory, transactional, enforcement, and legislative matters, with particular emphasis on implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.
As head of the American Bankers Association, Yingling was most often the chief opponent of credit union legislation, including HR 1151, the 1998 CU Membership Access Act, and more recent efforts at regulatory relief and member business lending, all the while advocating for repeal of the credit union tax exemption.
Succeeding Yingling as head of the ABA is Frank Keating. The former governor of Oklahoma, Keating previously headed the American Council of Life Insurers for the past eight years.
The 61-year-old Ed Yingling has bank lobbying running through his blood, as his father, John Yingling, was chief of staff for the Senate Banking Committee, then a well-known lobbyist for the forerunner of Citibank.
NCUA ADDS NEW DISCLOSURES ON CORPORATE CHARGES
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said it has added numerous disclosures to its 5300 Call Reports for the fourth quarter that will reflect each credit union's payment for costs associated with the National CU Share Insurance Fund premium and the corporate credit union stabilization.
The fourth quarter reports will require credit unions disclose on the statement of income and expenses section what this year's NCUSIF premium expense is, as well as net income minus both the premium and the corporate expense.
The agency also changed the name of the disclosure formerly called Account 311 to Temporary Corporate CU Stabilization Fund Assessment.
The disclosures will allow readers of the Call Reports to determine a credit union's financial performance absent the special NCUA charges.
NCUA also added a variety of new disclosures in the investments section for credit unions buying NCUA Guaranteed Notes, the bonds that are financing the corporate bailout.
NCUA has also added several new disclosures for credit unions offering payday loans, which will be part of the Statement of Financial Condition.
The disclosures will cover short-term small amount loans granted and delinquent and charged-off.
The new disclosures will also include a calculation of low-risk assets in the 5300's risk based net worth requirement.
