Final Regulation Summaries

On March 25, 2019, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) published a final rule amending its regulations regarding loans to members and lines of credit to members. The amendments make three principal changes.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published a final rule to improve the liquidity of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, collectively the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), To-Be-Announced (TBA) eligible mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The final rule requires the GSEs to maintain policies that promote aligned investor cash flows for both the current TBA-eligible MBS and the Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS), once implemented.

On February 20, 2019, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and other federal banking regulators, issued a final rule amending flood insurance requirements. The final rule implements the flood insurance provisions of the Bigger-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 by requiring credit unions to accept policies that meet the statutory definition of “private flood insurance.”

On December 31, 2018, the Treasury Department (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2019-09 to provide interim guidance about compliance with the requirements in section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Under section 4960, organizations are required to pay excise taxes on excess remuneration and excess parachute payments made to covered employees.

On December 17, 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published an interim final rule amending its regulations regarding VA-guaranteed or insured cash-out refinance loans as required by § 309 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155).

On December 21, 2018, the Bureau published final policy guidance that describes how loan-level data collected under HMDA and Regulation C (12 CFR part 1003) will be disclosed by the Bureau to the public. The final policy states that the Bureau intends to limit disclosure of loan-level HMDA by excluding certain data items and aggregating others to reduce the chance of borrower re-identification.

On November 30, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) published a final rule to align subpart A of Regulation J with the Board's 2017 amendments to Regulation CC and incorporate certain provisions by reference.

On September 18, 2018, the Bureau published an interim final rule implementing the requirements of § 301(a)(1) of S. 2155, which amends the FCRA by adding new § 605(A)(i)(5). The new section of the FCRA requires the inclusion of a notice of a consumer’s right to a security freeze at any time a consumer is required to receive a summary of rights required by FCRA § 609.

On September 17, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published a final rule amending Regulation CC, which addresses situations where there is a dispute as to whether a check has been altered or was issued with an unauthorized signature, and the original paper check is not available for inspection.

On September 7, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP or Bureau) published an interpretive and procedural rule to implement and clarify the partial HMDA reporting exemption provided in Section 104(a) of S. 2155.

On August 17, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) published a final rule amending Part 503 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) as implemented in Regulation P. The final rule implements a December 2015 statutory amendment to the GLBA which provides an exception to the annual privacy notice requirement for financial institutions, including all credit unions, so long as certain statutory requirements are met

On June 28, 2018, the NCUA published a final rule in the Federal Register which gives community charter applicants the option of submitting narrative documentation to establish common interests or interaction among residents to demonstrate that a proposed area qualifies as a well-defined local community (WDLC). In addition, the final rule provides that the NCUA will hold a public hearing for narrative applications where the proposed community exceeds a population of 2.5 million people.

On June 28, 2018, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) published a final rule amending Parts 701, 708a, and 708b of its regulations governing voluntary mergers to provide greater transparency to credit union members and ease compliance for merging credit unions. The final rule is applicable to all federally-insured credit unions (FICUs) and: 1) increases the minimum required time for notice to members before a merger vote to 45 days; 2) requires the merging credit union to disclose merger-related financial arrangement increases above $10,000 or 15 percent of compensation, whichever is greater for covered persons; 3) clarifies the contents and format of the members' notice to increase transparency; and 4) establishes an online portal for members of the merging credit union to communicate with one another and to submit comments to the NCUA on its website.

On May 30, 2018, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) published a final rule to amend part 709 of its regulations governing claims administration for federally insured credit unions that enter involuntary liquidation. The final rule clarifies application of the NCUA's golden parachute rule to severance payouts for employees of liquidated credit unions, and amends the current rule's payout priority provision by specifying when severance pay may be allowed as a provable claim in liquidation.

The Bureau has finalized amendments to the provisions of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) Rule to eliminate the four-business day limit for resetting tolerances with a Closing Disclosure (including any corrected Closing Disclosures provided pursuant to Section 1026.19(f)(2)(i) or (ii) of Regulation Z). The final rule retains the current requirement for resetting tolerances with a Closing Disclosure, so a creditor is still required to provide the Closing Disclosure to the consumer within three business days of receiving information sufficient to establish a reason for revision.

On April 25, 2018, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) published a final rule amending its requirements governing use of the official advertising statement. The final rule provides a new version of the official statement regarding notice of insured status: "Insured by NCUA."

On April 25, 2018, the NCUA published its final capital planning and stress testing rule for credit unions. In general, the proposed rule affords certain covered credit unions additional flexibility when conducting capital planning and stress testing.

The CFPB published a final rule revising § 1026.41(e)(5)(iv)(B) and (C) and related commentary in the 2016 Mortgage Servicing Final Rule to replace the single-billing-cycle exemption with a single-statement exemption.

The NCUA Board approved a final rule that governs the distribution of funds that are in excess of the NCUSIF's normal operating level (NOL). The final rule is bifurcated, laying out the methodology for special distributions related to the closure of the Corporate System Resolution Program (CSRP), and routine distributions, not related to the CSRP.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing new federal consumer protections for the prepaid market under Regulations E and Z. Final amendments and additions to Regulation E would mandate: New disclosures; Error resolution procedures; Consumer liability limits for unauthorized transactions; Fee limits; and additional requirements for accounts with overdraft or credit features.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has issued its final rule, as proposed, to amend its Chartering and Field of Membership Manual to redefine "in danger of insolvency" for emergency merger purposes. The new definition lengthens by six months the forecast horizons for two of the three net worth categories that a credit union is required to fall into over a period of time to be considered "in danger of insolvency."