Links in “Credit Unions”

The rules concerning the different types of fields of membership are complex and the decisions regarding FOM conversions can have long-term strategic effects. NCUA has issued a new video, “Strive to Thrive,” in an effort to make federal credit unions more aware of their options for membership expansion and the factors they should consider when evaluating  this issue. [12/30/14]

NCUA Inspector General James Hagen has launched an investigation into the data breach related to an NCUA examiner losing Palm Springs FCU's flash drive containing sensitive member information. Hagen announced that he will also be investigating the agency’s decision to keep the incident from the public and the source of the leak to the media. [12/30/14]

With 2014 coming to a close, it's a good time to look back fondly on our five most popular posts on the AffirmX blog. New to the blog? We post blogs from our subject matter experts almost every week to help explain (in plain English) developments and insights into compliance topics. Here are our top five posts based on number of page views. [12/29/14]

Evidently more people are afraid of going broke than they are of dying and so the top financial resolution for 2015, as it was for 2014, is to save more. However, resolutions differ depending on where people live. For example, those living on the West Coast are less interested in paying down debt than those living in the South. Find out what is foremost in the minds of your members. [12/29/14]

NCUA has provided federally-insured credit unions with a copy of the guidance it recently sent to its examiners and field staff. The guidance addresses the due diligence measures that are expected from credit unions that have accounts owned by money services businesses. [12/29/14]

That’s what some industry security experts are concerned about. EMV chip-and-PIN technology will make it more difficult for hackers to obtain consumer information from the big retailers and so hackers may redouble their efforts to hack into credit unions and banks. [12/29/14]

Linda Volz, the Financial Crimes Investigator at TruMark Financial Credit Union in Philadelphia, PA, has been credited by law enforcement with identifying a check scam in which a con artist was using young women and college students to deposit phony checks at multiple financial institutions. With Volz’s help the suspect was arrested at which time he was found to be in possession of handguns, drugs, cash, and bogus drug prescriptions. [12/24/14]

According to Steve Eisenberg, EVP and general counsel for Pentagon Federal Credit Union, compliance officers would be well-advised to remember the lessons from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This thoughtful article explains why a compliance officer needs to focus on the lessons of the past, the imperatives of the present, and the challenges of the future as their job become increasingly complex. [12/24/14]

The spirit of the holidays hasn’t stopped NCUA from filing another federal lawsuit in its continuing effort to recover losses from the failed corporate credit unions. This time they have Wells Fargo Bank National Association in their crosshairs for failing to fulfill its fiduciary duties as trustee for 27 residential mortgage backed securities trusts. [12/24/14]

NCUA has issued a cease and desist order to the Board of New Bethel FCU in Portsmouth, VA, that addresses poor accounting practices and internal controls, as well as violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. In a separate action, NCUA has issued a charter for Lutheran FCU, which will serve the employees, active members, and volunteers of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. This represents the third new federal credit union chartered in 2014. [12/24/14]