H.R. 3639 exemption for CUs won; CFPA moving

Oct. 23, 2009 – The House Financial Services Committee yesterday approved a NAFCU-backed amendment effectively exempting all credit unions from a Dec. 1 compliance deadline for remaining Credit CARD Act provisions proposed in H.R. 3639, which was voted out and awaits House action.

H.R. 3639 is meant to address concerns regarding abuses by some credit card issuers. The amendment exempts all issuers with fewer than 2 million cards; those issuers would follow the compliance deadlines provided in current law (Feb. 22 and Aug. 22 for remaining provisions).

NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Dan Berger said the bill, as amended, addresses NAFCU’s concerns about the expedited compliance date; NAFCU has ceased to oppose the bill. He also expressed NAFCU’s gratitude to Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Shelley Moore-Capito, R-W.Va., for their “wise amendment.”

In a letter for the record of Thursday’s mark-up, NAFCU said smaller institutions such as credit unions would have difficulty implementing the remaining Credit CARD Act provisions within six weeks as H.R. 3639 originally required. “We would note that our concern lies not with one particular provision going into effect early, rather that all of the provisions would apply on short notice, thereby creating a compliance nightmare,” wrote NAFCU President Fred Becker.

The legislation is headed to the House floor, where action is uncertain.

Work ahead on CFPA

The panel also voted out H.R. 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act, on a party-line vote of 39 to 29. The final version retained last week’s amendment limiting CFPA’s consumer compliance examinations for credit unions with less than $1.5 billion in assets. Becker said NAFCU will continue working with House and Senate members to exempt all credit unions from CFPA oversight.

NAFCU expects the bill will be taken up by the full House in late November.