WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department hastily called a meeting together last Tuesday and announced that it would place a moratorium on its final rule enforcing Section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act, regarding the procedures for financial institutions to search for funds of blocked individuals and groups. CUNA was in attendance. This...

WASHINGTON-CUNA and NAFCU told the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the costs outweigh the benefits in its proposal to change the reporting of interest paid to nonresident aliens in formal comment letters November 14, the same day the comment period closed. The proposed rule would require credit unions and other...

WASHINGTON- Another year, another failed attempt to pass bankruptcy reform legislation. The result is the same it's been in recent years, but the events leading up to this year's failure were quite interesting and made for a real rollercoaster ride for the credit union industry. Credit unions had a big...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-In a lengthy open board meeting, the NCUA Board unanimously passed several motions, including an expansive proposed update to the chartering and field of membership (FOM) policies to benefit the credit unions they regulate. Though board member Deborah Matz admitted that she was initially skeptical of the FOM changes,...

ARLINGTON, Va.-In a press audioconference after the NCUA budget hearing, NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker pointed out the uniqueness of federal credit unions' position and the trade group's testimony. Specifically, Becker said in his testimony and during the teleconference that the federal government is subsidizing the supervision of privately...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Federal credit unions can enter into loan purchase agreements with state chartered credit unions that charge prepayment penalties, so long as they do not take in fees from the prepayment penalty. According to NCUA Associate General Counsel Sheila Albin in a November 5 legal opinion letter, the state chartered...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA's second annual public budget briefing drew comments ranging from nothing to mild to fairly critical in follow-up letters. While NASCUS decided not to send a follow-up response to the meeting, NAFCU took the opportunity to criticize the speed of the agency's staffing reductions. CUNA also reemphasized the need...

WASHINGTON-While the lame duck session of the 107th Congress opened last week and was only scheduled to end last Thursday, few believed that it would conclude in that time. Aside from the 11 remaining appropriations bills Congress needed to consider, some legislative items, including bankruptcy reform and IDAs, are expected...