Compliance

WASHINGTON — After three regulatory relief bills sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives last week — two of which were written specifically for credit unions — industry insiders are cautiously optimistic.

Connecticut's top banking regulator on Monday warned investors about the dangers of Bitcoin.

WASHINGTON — With more than 320 members of Congress signing on to a letter to NCUA urging it to extend the comment period and the implementation timeline for its risk-based capital proposed rule, credit unions are hoping the agency will take notice.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA did not meet over half of its employment diversity goals for 2013, hitting only 40% of its target achievements in this category, according to the agency's annual report, released Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Stability Oversight Council on Wednesday expanded its transparency policies in an attempt to address criticism that it is a secretive group with minimal oversight.

India launched its new payment system, RuPay, this week to provide a low-cost card network to rival Visa and MasterCard.

Card-not-present (CNP) fraud is generating quite a bit of chatter in financial and payments circles today. Much of the talk centers on the link between greater global use of the EMV standard and rising CNP fraud.

WASHINGTON – It was a big day for credit unions on Capitol Hill Tuesday, as three bills that aim to give CUs some long-sought regulatory relief passed the House of Representatives.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which rode China's emergence as an economic superpower over the past 15 years to become a massive online marketplace for everything from forks to forklifts, filed today for what could become the largest U.S. initial public offering ever.

WASHINGTON — As a bill that could bring monumental changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac works its way through the Senate, some credit union executives are concerned that larger players would have too many advantages at the expense of small lenders.

The fallout from Russia's encroachment into Ukraine has reached MasterCard's headquarters in Purchase, N.Y., where the card network’s top executives expressed concern about lost business and Russia's moves to localize its payments infrastructure in response to sanctions from the West.

Bringing a point of sale terminal to market isn't as easy as it used to be. Since the introduction of contactless and mobile payment tech, the number of tests a manufacturer must pass for certification is "unbelievable," executives at U.K.-based Spire Payments say.

New York state is cracking down on online lenders that, it says, are using debit card transactions to skirt payday lending laws.

Heartland Payment Systems' financial performance held out through a difficult winter that put a chill on consumer spending.

First Data reported a better financial picture in the first quarter, a period that also saw the company make inroads into small business technology and accelerate its support of EMV-chip card technology.

The debit networks and card brands have largely resolved two years of debate over routing EMV debit cards, but an ongoing court battle over debit fees and routing makes the full scope of their responsibilities unclear.

SMP Bank OOO and InvestCapitalBank OAO, lenders controlled by associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were sanctioned by the U.S. as political tension over Ukraine escalates.

The Justice Department is grabbing the spotlight with Operation Choke Point, a controversial investigation that's drawing U.S. banks deeper into the fight against consumer fraud. But below the radar, another federal agency is tiptoeing in the same direction, and again drawing stiff opposition from the banking industry.

BTC China halted local-currency deposits to clients' China Merchants Bank Co. accounts, as lenders close accounts with Bitcoin exchanges amid government measures to check surging trading in the virtual currency.

WASHINGTON — CUNA and NAFCU recently asked NCUA — for a second time — to extend the comment period on the proposed risk-based capital rule another 90 days, and once again the agency said no.