Compliance

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board yesterday extended most of the provisions of the agency’s regulatory flexibility, or RegFlex, program to all credit unions, which previously had been reserved only for the healthiest credit unions.

ROCKVILLE, Md. – NCUA on Tuesday issued a supervisory order to Montgomery County Teachers FCU, a troubled, one-time $468-million credit union in the process of merging with nearby Educational Systems FCU – which will create one of Maryland’s largest credit unions.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Justice FCU has selected NeighborBench, a cloud-based platform that connects credit unions with a team of compliance experts, to help simplify compliance.

RESTON, Va. – Constellation FCU has signed with COMPASS 4 CUs for the company’s External Compliance Officer solution.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An internal review conducted by NCUA’s Office of the Inspector General on events surrounding last year’s NCUA dispute over North Carolina State Employees’ CU’s disclosure of its CAMEL code concluded that the North Carolina regulator violated a bilateral agreement with NCUA by giving the credit union giant a draft document of resolution that is supposed to be reserved for regulatory use.

LARAMIE, Wyo. – UniWyo FCU has selected NeighborBench, a cloud based platform that connects credit unions with a team of compliance experts, to help simplify compliance.

LAS VEGAS – Almost 10 months after NCUA said it would more closely regulate CUSOs – and the organizations in turn bombarded the regulator with comment letters – NCUA reportedly is narrowing its focus from the entire CUSO industry to a select group.

WASHINGTON – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it plans to introduce new regulations that would ban origination fees that vary with the size of the loan, known as “origination points,” or limit the use of “discount points,” which are supposed to result in lower interest rates.

WASHINGTON – Credit union executives called on Congress this morning to help them deflect new regulations being drafted by the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying proposals in the pipeline will add significant costs and manpower burdens.

What often seems to be overwhelming regulatory compliance demands will "continue to be an issue" for the foreseeable future, according to one analyst, who is recommending all credit unions have a designated compliance officer.

In a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CUNA said the agency has "more than sufficient authority" to help put an end to lawsuits being filed across the country against credit unions over improper ATM disclosures.

Credit unions are being cautioned that despite the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to streamline lending disclosures, at least initially the regulatory burden may not be so simple.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas CU Department on Tuesday warned credit unions about understating loan loss reserves, telling state charters an intentional understatement could qualify as an effort to falsify records.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA is preparing to ease the reins on the use of financial derivatives and allow more credit unions to deal in a variety of instruments that would help them hedge interest rate risk, including interest rate swaps, caps, floors, options and collars.

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Realtors FCU has selected the NeighborBench platform, which connects credit unions with a team of compliance experts through the cloud, to help simplify compliance.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put banks, credit unions and other lenders on notice last week that it is stepping up enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

Just as legislation is introduced to address the onslaught of numerous lawsuits against financial institutions over ATM disclosures, credit unions may now face a new wave of legal action, this time regarding their overdraft practices.

The Credit Union National Association does not foresee signficant harm coming to credit unions as the result of lawsuits and potential lawsuits against overdraft programs.

WASHINGTON – In a major setback for credit unions and banks, the Internal Revenue Service approved new rules that require depositories to report interest payments to nonresident aliens, starting in 2013.

WASHINGTON – Labor FCU has selected NeighborBench, a cloud based platform that connects credit unions with a team of compliance experts, to help simplify compliance.