Compliance Blog

Written by Bernadette Clair, Senior Regulatory Compliance Counsel

Regulatory Compliance School Kicks Off. NAFCU’s Regulatory Compliance School begins today!  During this intensive week, attendees will obtain a solid understanding of the various regulations and laws affecting credit unions’ regulatory compliance responsibilities. Many of these brave souls will also be studying hard to obtain their NAFCU Certified Compliance Officer (NCCO) designation. Wish them luck!

As a reminder, NAFCU’s Compliance Team will be in and out of the office giving presentations, so our response times may be a little longer than normal.

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March 2015 NCUA Report. NCUA recently released its March 2015 Report. Featured articles include:

Office of National Examinations and Supervision Report: Funnel Accounts: A Funny Name, but a Serious Concern

Chairman’s Corner: Volunteers: Inspire and Question Management

Office of Examination and Insurance Report: Loan Growth at a Nine-Year High

Board Perspectives: Charter Choice and the Law of Natural Selection; True Transparency and Real Regulatory Relief

Board Actions February 2015: NCUA Board Proposes $100 Million Threshold for Regulatory Relief; Share Insurance Fund Trends Positive, Taunton Charter Expansion Approved

Region I Report: A Quick Guide for New Supervisory Committee Members

Office of National Examinations and Supervision Report: Cyber Vulnerabilities and the Real Exposures

Funnel Accounts. Two articles caught my eye. First, an article on funnel accounts discusses the growth of funnel accounts, warning signs of funnel accounts, and BSA reporting requirements related to these types of money laundering schemes.  For additional background, my colleague Shari Pogach blogged about funnel accounts and trade-based money laundering here.

Quick Guide for New Supervisory Committee Members. The second article takes a look at some of the responsibilities of the supervisory committee beyond the audit and verification roles.  Topics covered include strengthening internal controls, reviewing management’s corrective actions, and the authority to call special meetings and remove officials.

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NCUA Spoofing Scam Warning.  Last week, NCUA warned that scammers are “spoofing” an agency telephone number and sending texts to consumers in an attempt to obtain personal information. More details are available here. This follows on the heels of a warning about an online phishing scam using a logo and design similar to the agency’s own. For more details, see our March 25th blog post.  

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NCUA Video Series for Credit Unions Seeking CDFI Certification. NCUA has released a five-part video series for credit unions interested in becoming certified as Community Development Financial Institutions.  The videos, less than 10 minutes each, are available on NCUA’s YouTube channel and cover topics such as the criteria for certification as well as the benefits.

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NCUA Grant Initiatives Webinar. NCUA will be hosting a webinar entitled “NCUA 2015 Grant and Loan Opportunities” for credit unions interested in applying for the next round of grants from the agency. Topics to be discussed include the grant application process and the four grant initiatives that NCUA will fund: cybersecurity, building capacity branching, digital growth and new products and services. The presentation will be followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern. Online registration is available here. Participants may submit questions in advance at WebinarQuestions@ncua.gov. The subject line of the email should read, “NCUA 2015 Grant and Loan Webinar.”