Private deposit insurance disclosure regulation has finally come to fruition. By law, nonfederally insured credit unions have been required to notify their members that they are not federally insured for just less than two decades, so it's about time the Federal Trade Commission started enforcing it.

A 2003 Government Accountability Office report stated, "Some privately insured credit unions GAO visited did not adequately disclose that these institutions were not federally insured; as a result, depositors at these institutions may not be fully informed that their deposits are not federally insured. For example, in unannounced site visits to 57 privately insured credit unions in Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, GAO found that required notices were not posted in 37 percent of the locations."

So finally, in 2010, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a final rule. The current period of financial tumult should have pushed this to the forefront more than two years ago. The type of deposit insurance a financial institution carries should weigh heavily in consumers' decisions on whether or not to park funds there. Depositors should be informed to the extent possible of the benefits and risks, particularly during a period of such uncertainty.