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Credit Union Journal publisher Frank J. Diekmann has a New Year's Resolution for America's credit unions: Take your own advice. It could be the single-biggest difference-maker in decades.

CUNA president and CEO Bill Cheney says that, despite Washington's ineffective reputation, he hopes his organization's efforts can make 2014 a year of quality improvements for credit unions and their 98 million members.

How can those charged with making business decisions for their cooperatives keep up with the swiftly-changing needs of their members? Simple — they ditch the gut, dig into the data.

Another Side of the Bitcoin Debate: Pamela J. Martinson and Christopher P. Masterson of Sidley Austin LLP took on one of 2013's hottest topics – Bitcoin – by warning there were hazards in lending to the cryptocurrency's users. "Owned Bitcoin has the potential to be collateral for loans, but creditors are likely more concerned with restricting Bitcoin acquisition or use by borrowers due to the uncertain regulatory landscape, irreversible nature of payments, extreme volatility of value and anonymity of the system," they wrote. One reader felt a borrower's use of Bitcoin wasn't always relevant. "If the debtor uses another asset, like a traditional bank account, and does not offer the bitcoin as collateral, what business is it of the bank whether that person or company owns or handles bitcoin?" he wrote. Another commenter thought the authors were selling the cryptocurrency short. "Bitcoin technology introduces some very new novel ways to use bitcoins in collateral and escrow transactions that simply have no parallel in today's banking system," the reader argued. "In a nutshell, because the authority to transfer Bitcoin is established through mathematics rather than institutions, it is possible to create elaborate mathematical equations … where control of the Bitcoins is spread across multiple parties." (Indeed, the economics and technology writer Eli Dourado has described "m of n" multi-signature transactions, in which bitcoins cannot be released from an account without the consent of at least one party plus an arbitrator.) Martinson and Masterson described loan agreements with covenants or reps and warranties that restrict borrowers' use of Bitcoin, and a commenter on Reddit smelled foul play, grumbling, "Here's another way in which banks are trying to squelch Bitcoin." But another Redditor had a more prosaic take: "Banks are so stupid, they can't change their paradigms so they are completely missing the boat."

Can the banking industry at least cool it with the footnotes?

Regulators are hoping to release an interim final rule next week designed to satisfy banker demands to change a provision of the Volcker Rule that threatens to force smaller institutions to take millions of dollars in write-offs.

The virtual currency has the potential to serve as collateral for loans, but creditors are likely more concerned with restricting borrowers’ Bitcoin use due to the regulatory uncertainty, irreversible payments, volatile exchange rates and the system’s anonymity.

Fred Joseph retired from overseeing banks and securities firms last month. In a wide-ranging interview, he reflected on his career and provided perspective on the future of the banking industry.

While a bankruptcy court has traditionally been a "debtors’ court" committed to helping grant debtors a fresh start, it should not allow for unchecked opportunities to hold the whole process hostage.

The “ability-to-repay” regime eviscerates fundamental principles of a mortgage “market.” It will not guarantee against a housing bubble and crash. It will constrain the availability of credit and increase home financing costs.