Compliance Blog

Written by Michael Coleman, Regulatory Compliance Counsel

NCUA Report. The September 2013 NCUA Report is now available, you can find it here. This month's issue covers: 

• Office of Consumer Protection Report: Overview of New Mortgage Rules
• Chairman's Corner: The Financial Crisis, Five Years Later: Lessons Learned
• Office of Consumer Protection Report: Low-Income Credit Union Initiative Boosts Community Investment
• Board Perspective - Michael E. Fryzel: A Year to Remember
• Board Perspective - Rick Metsger: May You Live in Interesting Times
• Region III Report: Understanding Enterprise Risk Management
• Office of Examinations and Insurance: Credit Union Membership, Loans Grow in Second Quarter
• Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives Report: Introducing FAQ+, A New Search Engine for Credit Unions

As always, the report includes some interesting articles and information, it is worth a read. This edition features NCUA Board Member Metsger’s first Board Perspective, here is an excerpt I thought was interesting and shows a great attitude as these are most certainly “interesting times” in credit union land:

“While preparing to leave Oregon for my new assignment in Washington, D.C., a long-time friend noted the many dynamic changes and challenges in today’s financial services marketplace, wished me well and parted with the observation: “May you live in interesting times.”

We have all heard the phrase before. It is purported to be an old Chinese proverb, seemingly positive in nature. Dig deeper into its origins, however, and evidence advances the theory it was actually one of three ancient curses, each imparting increased severity upon the designated target.

As the newest member of the National Credit Union Administration Board, I am mindful that how we decide to interpret a message goes a long in way in determining the direction and the outcome of our actions. Like my friend, I choose to observe these “interesting times” as an opportunity, not a curse, and a chance to make a difference in advancing the vital role credit unions play in the lives of so many Americans.

[…]

In the months ahead, I will use this column to discuss my perspective on issues as they come before the Board. I look forward to an open and robust dialogue on each of these issues and value your insights, observations and opinions. Together we have an opportunity to make these “interesting times” one of the best times for the American financial services consumer.”

The NCUA report also contains an overview of the CFPB’s mortgage rules which the article notes will be the first in a series of articles to help credit unions comply with the impending mortgage rules.

NAFCU Member Resource - Consolidated Regulatory Text and Commentary for the CFPB’s Mortgage Rules.

And speaking of helping credit unions to comply with the CFPB’s mortgage rules, NAFCU’s compliance division has put together a great member resource (login required) which will hopefully save you quite a few headaches.

The CFPB's mortgage rules amended several federal regulations (Regulation Z, Regulation X, Regulation B), and many of the individual regulatory sections were amended by different final rules. As a result, it is difficult to determine the complete picture of the requirements when the rules become effective.

To solve this problem, NAFCU has consolidated the regulatory text and commentary for each amended (and added) regulatory section from each of the CFPB's final mortgage rules. The consolidated regulatory text and commentary show how the regulatory sections will look when the final rule(s) are effective in January 2014.

Check out our new webpage where you can download the consolidated regulatory text of each individual amended section or you can download the entire consolidated final rule as amended! You can also link to the consolidated text from the NAFCU Mortgage Rules webpage. Hopefully you will never have to use this stress reduction kit again!