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PHILADELPHIA – Freedom CU is offering members an opportunity to Skip-A-Payment on their personal, vehicle, or closed-end home equity loan during the holidays.

Banks are unsure if deposit contracts with broker-dealers that have longer-term rate and contract maturities will be treated as such under Basel III.

The "living will" process gives financial institutions the opportunity to, among other things, frame policy, improve operational efficiencies and educate the market, business units and regulators.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on enforcing fair lending laws. Because both agencies have authority to protect against discriminatory lending, this agreement will help to avoid duplicating efforts.

Fees charged on homebuyers are meant to cover risk and protect taxpayers from losses, not pay for unrelated government programs.

Opponents have failed to halt momentum on a bill to extend the Transaction Account Guarantee program, and the Senate is slated to vote on the legislation as early as next week.

"It's clear the Roundtable's new chief executive plans on sticking around; this isn't a pit stop in his political career," writes American Banker's Editor-at-Large Barbara Rehm.

Next week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will focus on cross-border issues and the 2013 budget in two separate meetings.

Financial institutions should, among other things, implement an information governance program, perform periodic privacy audits and learn how data is managed in the cloud.

Remain vocal in conveying your opposition to unwarranted regulatory proposals. Understand your true competition by studying peer data. Eat, breathe, preach and execute sales – but sell to profitable niches in a profitable manner.