Compliance Blog

Posted by Anthony Demangone

Ah, we've come to the end of our analysis of the Credit CARD Act.  It was time to move on anyway - the recent interim final rule has really overtaken events.  We'll move on to analyzing that next.  But for now, here's a small dose of information regarding the provisions of Title V.

Title V of the Credit CARD Act contains 13 provisions.  Most of the provisions simply call for studies.  For example, Section 508 calls for a study on emergency PIN technologies.   Others create task forces.  All in all, Title V does not strike fear in the heart of compliance officers.  That being said, I wanted to highlight the following Sections.

• Section 501 mandates a study on interchange fees.  Once the study is published, it could lead to a renewed push to limit or tap down the interchange fees received by financial institutions.
• Section 503 requires the U.S. Treasury to issue regulations to implement the Bank Secrecy Act concerning stored value cards.  If the time-line holds true, we'll see final rules on this next year.  If your credit union offers stored value cards, you'll need to tweak your BSA program.
• Section 511 will require the FTC, in consultation with the Fed, to issue a reg designed to outlaw unfair or deceptive mortgage practices.  Now, it isn't clear that such a reg would apply to federal credit unions.  But it very well could apply to state charted credit unions or CUSOs, depending on how it is written.  Stay tuned.
• And yes, Section 512 did deal with the ability of an individual to bring a firearm into a national park.  I'll leave the analysis of that section to others.

There you have it.  I hope you guys enjoyed our overview of the Credit CARD Act.  As I mentioned above, we'll now start to move through some of the issues we've uncovered in the interim final rule to Regulation Z.

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Yesterday, we reminded you of the upcoming deadlines for early Truth in Lending disclosures. NAFCU is going to tackle this very topic in an August 19th Webcast. Suzanne Garwood, an associate at Venable, LLP, will be speaking on the MDIA and HOEPA amendments to Regulation Z. The webcast will specifically address:

• How HOEPA and MDIA have amended Regulation Z;

• Your credit union’s timeline for implementations; and

• How higher cost mortgage loans affect your use of credit reports.

You can register here, and if you do so by August 12th, you can receive the early bird pricing. Also, NCCOs can receive 1.5 hours of credit.