Week ahead: NCUA nominations, data security and more

With the House and Senate both back in session after the President’s Day recess, it’s a busy week for credit unions in Washington.

The top item on the agenda will be Todd Harper and Rodney Hood’s nominations to the National Credit Union Administration Board. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to advance their nominations on Tuesday. Both are NCUA veterans – Hood as a former board member and Harper as a long-time staffer – and their nominations have been praised across the industry. Hood would succeed Rick Metsger in the Republican seat while Harper would fill the Democratic seat last held by former Chairman Debbie Matz.

Along with the two NCUA nominees, the committee will also vote on Mark Calabria’s nomination to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Bimal Patel’s nomination to assistant secretary of the Treasury for financial institutions.

Federal Reserve Chariman Jerome Powell will testify Tuesday and Wednesday before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees, respectively. Powell is expected to continue his dovish approach as he outlines the Fed's plans for reducing the burden on the central bank's balance sheet. His semiannual remarks will indicate where monetary policy is headed for the remainder of the year, something credit unions will be watching carefully amid a changing interest rate environment.

Data security and consumer privacy matters will also be considered this week as the House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing regarding accountability at the credit bureaus. In the wake of the Equifax security breach, legislation was reintroduced to reform credit reporting. The same legislation may resurface, such as with the Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2017.

The Credit Union National Association and National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions have previously both argued for setting a national data security standard to ensure fairness across all entities handling sensitive data. Both have also argued that compliance measures of credit bureaus should be examined.

Along similar lines, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will also hold a hearing titled "Protecting Consumer Privacy in the Era of Big Data," while the Senate Commerce Committee will follow with a hearing Wednesday to discuss structuring a framework for federal data privacy.