Links in “Credit Unions”

Mountain America Credit Union has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a claim brought by HUD for allegations that the credit union had violated the Fair Housing Act. The claim began with a complaint by a married couple who claimed that their mortgage application had been denied because the wife was out on maternity leave. The credit union stated that its investigation showed that the credit union had never had engaged in any discriminatory practice, but both the credit union and HUD decided it was best to enter into a conciliation agreement. [6/27/14]

NCUA announced yesterday that it has developed a new webpage to assist credit unions with compliance to the new mortgage rules and other consumer lending regulations. The site provides consolidated information from NCUA, CFPB, FFIEC and other regulatory agencies and can be accessed here. [6/27/14]

During a Listening Session in Los Angeles, NCUA Chair Debbie Matz, stated that the agency is taking a second look at the proposed risk of certain asset categories, specifically mortgages, business loans, investments, CUSOs and corporates, and will “presumably lower” their risk weightings. Matz also said that they are considering raising the asset threshold limit for determining which credit unions will be exempt from the risk-based capital rule. [6/27/14]

October 2015 is the date when card issuers on non-EMV enabled debit cards will have to begin assuming all liability for fraudulent debit card transactions if the transaction could not have been processed by an EMV-enabled debit card. Despite that, 17% of credit unions responding to a recent survey say that they do not intend to reissued their debit cards with the EMV chip by the 2015 deadline. [6/26/14]

Timothy Coughlin of Indianapolis has pleaded guilty in federal court to establishing fake credit unions that caused investors millions of dollars in fraud losses. In a wide-ranging scheme Coughlin set up two fake credit unions through which he accepted over $12 million in deposits from over 5,000 investors and depositors from June, 2007 to December, 2009. [6/26/14]

No matter where you are in compliance, from a newly appointed compliance officer to a 10-year veteran in the position, the key to compliance is to commit to ongoing education. [6/26/14]

It doesn't get the publicity of the higher-profile cybersecurity breaches of retailers, but wire transfer fraud costs approach $1 billion per year with a simple ploy: bad guy gains access to a bank account, wires as much money as possible to another bank account, and tries to withdraw the stolen money before anyone notices. [6/25/14]

NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger sets the records straight regarding an article promoting the elimination of the CU tax exemption that appeared in the American Bankers Association’s publication, The Hill, on June 23^rd.  Berger cites an independent tax study that found that repeal of the tax exemption would result in Americans losing an estimated $17 billion in economic benefits and costing the federal government about $15 billion in lost tax revenue. [6/25/14]

A new survey by the ATM network Pulse reveals that credit unions experienced higher losses than other financial institutions as a result of the Target breach.  The data shows that 14% of credit union debit card fraud in 2013 was tied to the Target breach. [6/25/14]

From a promoter of a conference on legal marijuana to a publisher of a magazine that covers the legal marijuana industry, more businesses with indirect ties to the legal marijuana industry are finding it hard to open a bank account in the continuing absence of federal guidance on the matter. [6/25/14]