WASHINGTON-According to a report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.PIRG), a recent survey found that more than half of consumers who called their credit card company to complain about the interest rates were successful in cutting them by an average of one-third. In 2000, American households carried revolving...

WASHINGTON- Last week NCUA filed a legal brief in the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's (NCRC's) case against the agency regarding the repeal process of the agency's Community Action Plan (CAP). NCRC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit January 2 of this year charging...

WASHINGTON-President George W. Bush signed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (H.R. 2356) into law last week and while the news is mostly good for credit unions, an issue of coordination could prove an obstacle. The main focus of the bill was eliminating soft money contributions-unlimited campaign contributions to the political...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA recently posted its new investment and asset liability management (ALM) review procedures on its Web site at www.ncua.gov. The new Interest Rate Risk Questionnaire, which explains the procedures examiners will follow and replaces the old Asset Liability Review Questionnaire, and the new Liquidity Questionnaire outline the procedures for...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate approved JoAnn Johnson, former Iowa state senator, and Deborah Matz, former USDA official under the Clinton administration, by unanimous consent late on March 22. Johnson's term will run through August 2, 2007, while Matz's is scheduled to expire August 2, 2005. Former NCUA Chairman Norm...

WASHINGTON-The Credit Union Legislative Action Committee of CUNA (CULAC) has donated $90,000 so far this year to the Republican and Democratic parties. CULAC donated $15,000 each to the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Republican National Committee Majority Fund, the National Republican...

WASHINGTON-Several top CUNA executives met with Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions Sheila Bair last week to discuss developing credit union issues. CUNA Associate General Counsel Mary Dunn, who attended the meeting, told reporters that credit union involvement in Treasury's First Accounts initiative, which aims at helping financial...

WASHINGTON-Credit unions need to play by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules regarding auditing and accounting work performed by Arthur Andersen LLP even though they are not subject to oversight from the agency, NCUA directed. The federal financial institutions regulators, including NCUA, announced that the financial institutions they supervise should...