The conference, which runs from Aug. 21-23, features a variety of sessions on regulatory and compliance issues. One of Fryzel's predecessors, Dennis Dollar, is among the speakers.

For further information, or to register, go to: www.nascus.org/events.

Former ABA Chair Duke Takes
Seat on the Federal Reserve Board

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth A. Duke, a former executive of both community and national banks, is the newest member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Duke, who was sworn in last week, chaired the board of the American Bankers Association in 2004 and 2005. She was also a board member and president of the Virginia Bankers Association. Her most recent job in the private sector was as the No. 2 executive at TowneBank, a community bank in Virginia. Before that, she was an executive vice president of Wachovia Bank and SouthTrust Bank. She was also president/CEO of the Bank of Tidewater in Virginia Beach, Va.

In addition, she has experience with the Federal Reserve, having served on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She was also on the national advisory board of Fannie Mae.

Duke was appointed by President Bush to fill an unexpired term that ends Jan. 31, 2012.

Hope Community CU Expands With Help

WASHINGTON — The director of a federal program that has helped numerous credit unions expand their efforts among the underserved recently helped dedicate Mississippi-based Hope Community Credit Union's new office in Tennessee.

The community development credit union is certified as a Community Development Financial Institution sponsored by the Enterprise Corp. of the Delta.

"By working with a range of partners, both public and private, ECD/HOPE has become one of the nation's most effective community development financial institutions," Donna J. Gambrell, director of the Treasury Department's CDFI Fund, said at the Aug. 1 opening of the new branch.

The credit union has so far received more than $10 million in financial assistance awards under the CDFI program and $30 million in new market tax credit allocations from the CDFI fund.

ECD/HOPE has provided more than $1 billion in financing to entrepreneurs, homebuyers and community development programs that have benefited more than 40,000 individuals.

HOPE has more than 10,000 members and $62 million in assets. It has three branches in Mississippi and one in Memphis.

CU Reps Offer NCUA Regulatory Wish List

WASHINGTON — Although Christmas is more than four months away, that's not stopping CUNA, NAFCU and NASCUS from submitting their wish lists.

These lists weren't, however, heading to the North Pole. Instead, they are going to Alexandria, Va., as, each year, NCUA reviews one-third of its regulations.

CUNA suggested that NCUA increase the threshold for transactions that have to be reported under the Bank Secrecy Act from $10,000 to $20,000 and consider raising the $3,000 trigger for wire transfers and the $5,000 threshold for filing a suspicious activity report. It also urged the agency to provide more guidance on BSA compliance.

NAFCU also recommended that the agency review the regulations in this area but didn't offer specific suggestions. The group said NCUA should keep in mind that "the primary role of depository institutions is to provide financial products and serves in a safe and sound manner–not to police against criminal behavior."

Both CUNA and NAFCU urged the agency to clarify the guidance it gives when explaining flood insurance requirements. CUNA also requested that the agency make it clear that a loan application doesn't trigger a flood determination.

CUNA also nudged NCUA to change the guidance on its Web site (www.ncua.gov) regarding the Freedom of Information Act to better assist credit unions on how to protect certain information about their operations from FOIA requests.

The agency should use the advice and legal interpretations in its responses to letters from credit unions as the basis for more extensive commentaries issued in conjunction with NCUA's regulations, according to CUNA.

NAFCU asked that the agency include a clarifying paragraph when issuing guidance documents to explain how a credit union should comply with guidance and how this differs from a regulation.

NAFCU also urged the agency, in light of the "breakdown in the financial sector of our country," to lower the regulatory burden on credit unions because this will result in more opportunities "for wealth-building among those who have been unfairly victimized by the subprime crisis."

In line with its mission of representing state regulators, NASCUS suggested that NCUA do more to clarify its dual roles as regulator of credit unions and administrator of the NCUSIF by having separate board meetings or separating the scheduled monthly board meetings into two parts.

NASCUS also requested that when NCUA includes a regulation on its agenda, the agency spell out if the regulation applies to just federal credit unions or FCUs and federally insured state chartered credit unions.

In addition, NASCUS would like NCUA to expand the ability of state regulators to apply for waivers from NCUA insurance rules for provisions not statutorily mandated for federally insured state credit unions.

Trades Concerned About Added
Credit Card Regulatory Burden

WASHINGTON — Proposed regulations aimed at curbing what the government sees as excessive fees for–and insufficient disclosure to–credit card users could make it harder for credit unions to offer credit cards in a cost effective manner.

That's the concern expressed by CUNA and NAFCU in a letter to the Federal Reserve Board about its proposed regulations issued by that agency, NCUA and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

The House Financial Services Committee recently approved a measure that contained many of these provisions. It is uncertain if there are enough legislative days left this year for the full House to consider it.

One source of concern is a regulatory proposal that would require creditors, before charging a fee, to provide consumers with a notice and the chance to opt-out of overdraft plans. Both groups also expressed concern about the proposed provision to allow consumers to opt-out of certain types of overdraft protection.

"Currently, most credit unions do not have the operational and/or technological capability to separate out the process codes in order to pay overdrafts for some, but not all, payment channels," wrote NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs B. Dan Berger.

Both groups also expressed concern about a provision banning fees on overdrafts created if a hold has been placed on funds. NAFCU said the rules change isn't needed because credit card systems have changed their processing rules to implement almost real-time transaction clearing, thus reducing the hold time. CUNA said while it does not oppose banning fees caused by a hold, it is concerned about manual processing issues and the greater costs of credit, since creditors can't control merchants' authorizations.

Both CUNA and NAFCU praised the following regulations: banning double-cycle billing; giving consumers at least 21 days to make a payment on credit card balances; and requiring creditors to re-allocate the amount of a payment in excess of the minimum so the payment is not applied only to lowest rate balance.

In its letter, CUNA said while some of the consumer protections proposed by the agencies are helpful, others add too much to the already heavy regulatory burdens faced by credit unions.

"Consumers deserve protection; there is no doubt about that. At the same time, most credit unions have no compliance officers and limited resources to meet regulatory requirements," wrote CUNA Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Mary Mitchell Dunn. "We feel it is reasonable for Congress and the regulators to consider how best to shield consumers but without continually adding new requirements that fail to recognize the existing level of regulatory burden."

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