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Mara Falero, vice president of marketing and communications at JetStream Federal Credit Union, is set to testify on behalf of NAFCU this week before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions. During her testimony, Falero will discuss supporting the credit union industry's more than 600 minority depository institutions (MDIs), including JetStream Federal Credit Union.

A credit union can self-designate as an MDI if more than 50 percent of its board members are minorities and more than 50 percent of current and potential members are minorities. 

Ahead of a hearing last week, NAFCU's Brad Thaler shared with lawmakers credit unions' commitment to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion within the U.S. economy.  Currently, there are three times as many minority-designated credit unions as banks, and there are 10 times as many female CEOs at credit unions than at banks.

Tuesday's hearing, focused on the decline of MDIs and the impact on underserved communities, is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Additionally, the NCUA Board will meet Thursday and is expected to issue a final rule on public unit and nonmember shares, and a notice of public rulemaking on chartering and field of membership.

Members of NAFCU's Regulatory Affairs and Compliance teams will meet with the CFPB's Office of Innovation to discuss the bureau's recently finalized innovation policies, including the Trial Disclosure Policy. Relatedly, NAFCU previously raised concerns about assurances institutions may receive related to enforcement actions under the bureau's Unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices standard. The Bureau is also recently held a symposium on defining the abusive standard, which NAFCU has asked the bureau to clarify.

The House of Representatives is also expected to consider a pair of NAFCU-backed bills to make improvements to Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering requirements for financial institutions and also provide easier access to beneficial ownership information of companies. 

The bills, H.R. 2514, the Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating Technology, and Examiner Reform Act (COUNTER Act), and H.R. 2513, the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, passed the House Financial Services Committee with strong bipartisan support earlier this year.

The House Financial Services Committee will also hold hearings throughout the week to:

• examine Facebook, specifically its impact on the financial services and housing sectors; and
• review the Trump Administration's plans to change housing finance in America.

Also happening this week:

• Tomorrow, NAFCU's Regulatory Committee will meet and hear from the NCUA regarding the agency's final rule on federal credit union bylaws.
• Tomorrow, a Committee on Homeland Security subcommittee will assess emerging cyber threats;
• Tomorrow, a NAFCU-hosted webinar will explore structures of innovation;
• Wednesday, the CFPB's Credit Union Advisory Council will meet to discuss issues facing the industry;
• Wednesday, NAFCU will host another webinar, reviewing the requirements for investigating and resolving disputes for unauthorized transactions;
• The Senate Banking Committee Thursday will discuss implications for data privacy rights and data valuation; and
• Thursday, NAFCU will host a webinar exploring methods and implications for valuing CUSOs.