Proposed Regulations

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a request for comment on how the Board's regulations may be adapted to the online delivery of financial services. This request for comment was initiated due to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which requires federal banking regulators to conduct a study of regulations and submit a report about adapting existing legislative and regulatory requirements to online banking and lending.

On November 16, 2000, the NCUA Board of Directors unanimously approved an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) that seeks comments on several issues in Part 704, the rule governing corporate credit unions (corporates).

The Federal Reserve Board is proposing amendments to Regulation Z revising the disclosure requirements for credit and charge card solicitations and applications. The proposed revisions would implement a type size requirement for APR disclosures and strictly construe the requirement that disclosures be “clear and conspicuous.”

On November, 21 2002, NCUA issued a proposed rule, IRPS02-4, Change in Definition of Small Credit Union. This proposed rule seeks to update the definition of Small Credit Union to reflect inflation and expands NCUA's policy of reviewing all existing regulations every three years by giving the public notice of those regulations under review.

The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 mandated implementation of rules to improve the identity verification programs financial institutions utilize for the purpose of combating terrorism and money laundering.

The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 mandated implementation of rules to reduce the barriers to information sharing among financial institutions and federal government law enforcement agencies for the purpose of combating terrorism and money laundering. On February 26, 2002, the Department of the Treasury published a proposed regulation pursuant to that mandate. The Secretary of the Treasury requests public comment.

At its last board meeting, NCUA issued a Notice and Request for Comment for some of its regulations pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). This Notice and Request for Comment pertains to comments the NCUA must solicit under EGRPRA; it is not a regulation.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Notice 2005-1, guidance relative to section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) as added by the American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA) of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-357, 118 Stat. 1418. New section 409A provides that all amounts deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan for all taxable years are currently includible in gross income to the extent not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture and not previously included in gross income, unless certain requirements are met.

The Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act established the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (Commission) for the improvement of financial literacy of persons in the United States.

Section 214 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) adds a new section 624 to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This section generally prohibits use for marketing purposes of a consumer's information that is received by an affiliate from an affiliate. For a credit union, a credit union service organization (CUSO) is its affiliate.

The rule governs federal credit union (FCU) ownership of fixed assets and, among other things, limits investment in fixed assets to five percent of an FCU's shares and retained earnings.

On December 18, 2003, NCUA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on an interagency proposal to consider alternative forms of privacy notices under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). NCUA, along with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission (the Agencies), is requesting comment on whether the Agencies should consider amending the regulations that implement sections 502 and 503 of the GLBA to allow or require financial institutions to provide alternative types of privacy notices that would be easier for consumers to understand.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recently proposed an amendment to its rules on the purchasing of assets and assumption of liabilities in order to clarify which transfers of assets or accounts require approval by the NCUA Board. NCUA also seeks comments on the provision governing non conforming investments by federally- insured, state-chartered credit unions (FISCUs).

Recently, the Federal Trade Commission proposed rules pursuant to the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CANSPAM or Act). Included in the changes is a modification of the rule outlined in the Act that gives senders of commercial email messages ten days to process requests of consumers to opt-out of receiving emails.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a notice and request for comment regarding evidence needed to study the effects of credit scores and credit-based insurance scores on the availability and affordability of financial products. The products to be considered include credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and property and casualty insurance.

The joint proposed rule would require each financial institution and creditor to have a risk-based written Identity Theft Prevention Program containing reasonable policies and procedures to address the risk of identity theft. The proposed rule also includes guidelines for financial institutions and creditors identifying patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity that indicate possible identity theft. The proposal would also require credit and debit card issuers to establish reasonable policies and procedures for assessing the validity of a change of address request under certain circumstances. Additionally, users of consumer reports would be required to develop policies and procedures for handling notices of address discrepancies from a consumer reporting agency.

On March 15, 2006, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued an interim final rule implementing increased share insurance coverage for certain retirement accounts as enacted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 and the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005, which amend the Federal Credit Union Act.

Recently, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), along with the Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of Thrift Supervision (the Agencies), issued a joint proposed regulation and guidelines regarding procedures to help ensure the accuracy and integrity of information furnished to consumer reporting agencies, and to allow consumers to directly dispute inaccuracies with financial institutions and other furnishers or consumer information.

Recently, NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association (NACHA) published “The Transaction Origin Identification Proposal” (Proposal). The Proposal is the second initiative under NACHA's comprehensive risk management strategy; the first was issued on February 20, 2007 and NAFCU submitted official comments to NACHA on April 23, 2007.