Credit unions

San Francisco has an Office of Financial Empowerment that oversees all sorts of programs designed to help residents handle their money better and recruits banks and credit unions to participate. As other cities adopt a similar approach, more financial institutions have an opportunity to get involved.

WASHINGTON — Congress should consider streamlining the financial regulatory structure and give the Financial Stability Oversight Council broader authority to respond to systemic risks, according to a Government Accountability Office report published this week.

Credit unions have a dominant auto lending presence in the West, boasting as much as a 50% market share in some areas. Credit Union Journal explores what is driving that dominance.

The Independent Community Bankers of America and the Credit Union National Association sent a joint letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board urging changes to a proposal to alter how financial institutions establish reserves for loan losses.

Wings Financial Credit Union has scored a deal to take over a branch from U.S. Bank at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The chairmen of the House and Senate banking committees appear to agree that banks that hold higher capital should get a significant break on other regulatory requirements. But the odds of enacting a bill this year remain long.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling signaled an aggressive assault on the Dodd-Frank Act on Tuesday, outlining a bill that would allow banks to be released from some of the 2010 reform law's regulations and Basel III requirements if they hold sufficient capital.

Three-fourths of House lawmakers signed a bipartisan letter that calls on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take more steps to carve out community banks and credit unions from onerous regulations. But will it make a difference?

It could take months before lawmakers approve a successor for departing NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz, and industry observers believe issues like supplemental capital could be on hold until that replacement takes office.