(Jan. 7, 2022) NASCUS will follow closely in 2022 its mission and purpose as adopted by association leadership in 2021, new NASCUS President and CEO Brian Knight said this week after assuming his role Jan. 1.
He succeeded Lucy Ito, who retired Dec. 31 after seven years of leading the association.
“Our leadership last July outlined the NASCUS mission as forming a vibrant dual charter system by promoting a relevant, growth-oriented and health state charter option,” Knight said. “It’s my intention that the association move in that direction with all deliberate speed, in the interests of the entire credit union system.”
Knight said the mission of the association would be advanced by adhering to the purpose of NASCUS, also adopted by the board last summer. That is: to advance credit union legislation, regulation and supervision and to promote a resilient state-chartered cooperative credit union system through regulator and credit union collaboration.
“NASCUS members will see these words repeated often in our presentations, on our website and in our other public-facing elements,” Knight said. “It’s my hope all of our members become intimately familiar with our mission and purpose – and hold us to it.”
(Jan. 7, 2022) The nomination of Todd M. Harper to be reappointed chairman of the NCUA Board, for a six-year term to run through April 2027, was resubmitted by the White House to the Senate this week – even though Harper in September testified in a confirmation hearing before the Banking Committee.
The resubmission of Harper’s nomination was one of three for federal financial regulators made by the White House this week (and more than 100 submitted overall). The other two were for Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell and Board Member Lael Brainard. The White House had originally submitted those nominations Dec. 13. Powell has been nominated to be reappointed chair of the board (for a four-year term ending in 2026; Brainard has been nominated to be vice chair of the board, also for term ending in 2026.
The reasons for the resubmittals is largely procedural. Jan. 3 marked the beginning of the second session of the current Congress. Under Senate rules, nominations not confirmed by the end of a legislative session must be returned to the White House and resubmitted. New confirmation hearings for those already conducted (such as Harper’s) are unlikely.
Meanwhile, confirmation hearings for Powell and Brainard for their leadership posts on the Fed Board were announced this week by the Senate Banking Committee. Powell’s hearing will be Tuesday (Jan. 11) and Brainard’s Thursday (Jan. 13).
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Nominations Sent to the Senate
(Jan. 7, 2022) Regulators, mark your calendars for April 12-14, when the National Regulator Meeting will be held in San Diego.
Exclusively open to state regulators only, the three-day meeting offers a forum for open dialogue on best practices, discussions around common challenges, and a platform where state regulators may exchange ideas with their colleagues from across the country.
Last year’s session was held virtually, but still attracted a record number of state regulators. Among the session topics addressed: climate change and the ramifications for regulators, payments systems, and capital issues.
Held at the Courtyard San Diego Downtown hotel, the Tuesday through Thursday event begins at 8 a.m. each day, ending at 4:30 on the first two days and at 11 a.m. on day three.
More details will be coming soon; see the link below to follow the latest developments.
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2022 National Regulator Meeting, April 12-14, San Diego
(Jan. 7, 2022) NCUA closed out 2021 by liquidating a credit union, and started 2022 by merging a struggling California credit union with another in the Golden State.
Early this week, the agency announced that Pomona Postal Federal Credit Union (of Pomona), with assets of $4.08 million and 717 members, merged into the Credit Union of Southern California, Anaheim, as of Jan. 1. CU of Southern California had $2.2 billion in assets, and just under 130,000 members, as of the end of the third quarter, according to NCUA call report data.
Pomona Postal FCU was officially conserved by NCUA on Nov. 5. According to the agency, it worked to “address issues affecting the credit union’s safety and soundness,” but determined ultimately that merging Pomona Postal into the larger credit union “was in the best interests of its members.”
Last week, the agency announced it had liquidated Portsmouth Schools Federal Credit Union in Portsmouth, Va. The $2.2 million credit union, with 870 members, was chartered 80 years ago to serve teachers, employees, students, and family members of various schools within the Portsmouth, Va., public school system, NCUA noted. The agency gave no reason for the credit union’s liquidation. It was at least the fourth credit union to be shuttered by the agency in 2021.
Portsmouth’s assets, member shares and loans were assumed by BayPort Credit Union (which is apparently chartered as Newport News Shipbuilding Employees Credit Union, but operating under the BayPort name) of Newport News, Va. BayPort, NCUA said, had $2.2 billion in assets, and about 147,000 members, at the end of the third quarter.
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Pomona Postal Federal Credit Union Merges into Credit Union of Southern California
(Jan. 7, 2022) A regulatory alert calling attention to threshold and fee adjustments – which are increasing for the new year — under truth in lending, consumer leasing and fair credit reporting regulations by the CFPB was distributed last week by NCUA.
The alert, sent to all federally insured credit unions, notes that last month the bureau issued final annual adjustments for the exemption thresholds outlined under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA or Regulation Z) and the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA or Regulation M). The alert also points out that CFPB issued an annual adjustment to the maximum amount credit bureaus may charge consumers for making a file disclosure to a consumer under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA or Regulation V).
More specifically:
- The Reg Z threshold (for appraisals for higher-priced mortgage loan exemptions) will increase to $28,500 from $27,200.
- The Reg M threshold (for consumer credit and consumer lease exemptions) will increase to $61,000 from $58,300.
- The Reg V ceiling (for credit bureau consumer report fees) will increase to $13.50 from $13.
The Reg Z and Reg M threshold changes are based on the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) in effect as of June 1, 2021. The Reg V ceiling is based on the CPI for all urban consumers.
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(Jan. 7, 2022) Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Maryland financial institution regulator who also served as a deputy Treasury secretary and member of the Federal Reserve Board, is under consideration for another stint at the central bank: as Federal Reserve Board vice chair for supervision. Washington news outlets this week were reporting that Raskin is under consideration for the post by President Biden. If confirmed, Raskin would be only the second occupant in post, succeed Randal Quarles (the first), who resigned late last year after his term in that role ended … Reports this week indicated that the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance rejected the purchase of a Nebraska bank by an Iowa credit union. The agency said that GreenState Credit Union of North Liberty, Iowa, could not purchase the assets of Premier Bank, based on Omaha. According to the agency’s ruling, the bank did not carry its burden of proof to show “that there is express power under federal law for a national bank to sell substantially all of its assets,” at least in this case. Premier Bank is reportedly appealing the decision … The three big credit bureaus “failed to fully respond to consumers with errors,” a report released this week by the CFPB charged. The bureau said its report, which represented a new analysis, showed that in 2021, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion together reported relief in response to less than 2% of covered complaints, down from nearly 25% of covered complaints in 2019. The report looks at errors in credit reports as recounted by consumers to the credit reporting agencies. According to CFPB, consumers submitted more than 700,000 complaints to the bureau regarding Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from January 2020 through September 2021. Those complaints, the bureau said, represented more than 50% of all complaints received by the agency for that period.
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(Jan. 7, 2022) The leadership of the FDIC will be changing next month following the surprise resignation New Year’s Eve by board Chairman Jelena McWilliams. In a letter to President Joe Biden (D), McWilliams said her resignation would be effective Feb. 4.
In her letter, McWilliams gave no indication why she was resigning now, three-and-a-half years into her five-year term (she was nominated by President Donald Trump (R ) in December 2017 and confirmed by the Senate in late May 2018). She did note that it has been a “a tremendous honor to serve this nation,” and that she “did not take a single day for granted” during her service.
McWilliams’ resignation will leave the FDIC Board with only one appointed member, holdover board member (and former chairman) Martin Gruenberg, a Democratic appointee. His own five-year term on the board expired in December 2018; he has been serving in the absence of a successor being confirmed by the Senate. Neither Biden, nor Trump before him, nominated a successor.
The other appointed seat on the board, that of vice chairman, has been vacant since April 2018. It was filled by Thomas Hoenig, whose term expired; he had served since November 2012.
The other seats on the five-person board are held, by statute, by the leaders of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Chairman Rohit Chopra, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu. Both are Democratic appointees.
So far, the White House has given no indication who it will name as McWilliams’ successor.
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