Compliance Blog

Posted by Anthony Demangone

The regulators do not seem to grasp the idea that some of us have Holiday shopping to do.  The pace of news has been furious, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down a bit.  Here's some recent items of interest.

Gift cards.  Yesterday, the Fed released proposed changes to Regulation E that would restrict fees and expiration dates that would apply to gift cards.   This proposal flows from the Credit CARD Act, which required the Fed to issue rules in this area.  The proposal would prohibit dormancy, inactivity, and service fees on gift cards unless: (1) there has been at least one year of inactivity on the certificate or card; (2) no more than one such fee is charged per month; and (3) the consumer is given clear and conspicuous disclosures about the fees.   Under the proposal, expiration dates for funds underlying gift cards must be at least five years after the date of issuance, or five years after the date when funds were last loaded.  We'll have 30 days to comment once this is published in the Federal Register.

120 Days of Love.  Not quite, but close enough. Last Friday, HUD announced that it will "exercise restraint" for the first 4 months of 2010 in its enforcement of RESPA. And it urges federal regulators to follow suit. As you would expect, HUD will give lenience to those who made "good faith" efforts to comply.

RESPA procedures.  Speaking of RESPA, the FFIEC interagency RESPA exam procedures have been released.  These procedures will be used by examiners.  The procedures also provide a very good overview of all the changes taking place to the RESPA requirements. 

NCUA.  The agenda for this Thursday's board meeting is available.  The item that caught my eye? NCUA will release its proposal regarding corporate credit unions.   Last week, Chairman Debbie Matz indicated that NCUA examiners will take a close look at fixed-rate mortgage loan concentrations, and increased delinquencies in indirect lending, member business lending and loan participations.  She also said that if credit unions do not address NCUA recommendations that were in a private Document of Resolution, expect a public Letter of Understanding and Agreement or Cease and Desist Order. 

SAFE Act.  Last week, the FDIC issued a final rule to implement the SAFE Act requirements.   Of note: the document, which is labeled a draft, has NCUA's name on it, along with other regulators.  Therefore, I would expect NCUA to follow suit shortly.  Remember, you'll have 180 days to register folks covered by the regulations once the registration system is open and ready to take registrations.