Compliance Blog

As credit union professionals and volunteers travel for credit union training, the issue of the federal credit union tax exemption often comes up.   NCUA's Office of General Counsel has prepared a letter that explains the tax exemption.  You can access it here.  The letter is potentially a great tool for employees and volunteers to take with them, should they run into those who doubt their sincerity about the exemption.

But NCUA also issued an explanation with the letter that is a must read.  In NCUA's words:

The revised Tax Exemption Letter can only be used when a federal credit union is making payment by direct billing, or payment is made via a credit card issued in the credit union’s name. For example, an employee staying in a hotel may not use the revised Tax Exemption Letter if that employee is paying for the lodging and then subsequently receiving reimbursement for payment. This prohibition even includes situations where an employee utilizes a corporate credit card, if that card is billed directly to the employee. The federal credit union must make direct payment to receive the exemption.

You can access NCUA's entire explanation here.

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Speaking of training, NAFCU has a good webcast coming up on May 7.  Jane Pannier of the Rochdale Group will lead a session on compliance issues with "multimedia marketing." 

Every credit union produces hundreds, maybe thousands of marketing and advertising materials each year. It is vital that the content and the message of these materials be in compliance with federal laws and regulations.

This is a credit union marketer’s most challenging job, particularly with the emerging multimedia marketing options that are making the rules governing marketing and advertising materials more complex. Coupled with the issue of varying requirements depending on the product being promoted and the media being used, compliance can be a big challenge.

This webcast will review the current regulatory requirements as they relate to particular loan and share products and will identify exceptions and partial exceptions that are permitted for particular types of media. In addition, you will learn proposed regulatory changes and how those proposed rules may affect your marketing efforts going forward.

Click here for more details.