Proposed Regulations

Recently, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding permissible foreign currency investments for federal credit unions and corporate credit unions. The ANPR follows a rule adopted by the NCUA last year which permitted federally insured credit unions to accept member shares denominated in foreign currency.

On April 30, 2007, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published in the Federal Register proposed rules amending Regulations B, E, M, Z, and DD. Generally, the proposed rules withdraw provisions in each regulation added by interim final rules in 2001 to implement the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act).

On February 5, 2007, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued for public comment a proposed rule to strengthen the regulatory framework for consideration of applications or notices for industrial banks or industrial loan companies (ILCs) owned by financial companies that are not subject to consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve Board or the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Recently, the Fannie Mae entered into a Cooperation Agreement (Agreement) with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise (OFHEO) and the New York Attorney General's Office to adopt a Home Valuation Protection Code (Code). As part of the agreement, Fannie Mae, along with Freddie Mac and other industry players, will also contribute to the establishment of an Independent Valuation Protection Institute (Institute). Fannie Mae has requested comments from its customers a

As directed by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the Department of Treasury's FinCEN requires financial institutions, including credit unions, to report transactions in currency in excess of $10,000. The Money Laundering Suppression Act of 1994 amended the BSA by establishing a statutory system of exempting transactions by certain customers of depository institutions. This system devised two types of exemptions: mandatory exemptions and discretionary exemptions.

The proposed rule would modify the calculation of net worth ratio in cases involving mergers of natural person credit unions so that the post-merger ratio would be calculated by dividing the sum of the acquiring credit union's retained earnings and the merging credit union's retained earnings by the total assets (under GAAP, total assets are the sum of the acquiring credit union's total assets at book value and the merging credit union's total assets at fair value).

Recently, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued a proposed rule to revise its rules relating to the accuracy of advertising and notice of insured status. Specifically, the proposed changes seek clarify and reduce the burden of existing rules regarding shared branch networks which include nonfederally-insured credit unions.

Corporate credit unions have played an important role in the credit union industry. They provide critical services to natural person credit unions, including payment and clearing services, enabling access to wire transfer facilities and automated clearing house transactions, as well as loan and investments services that provides small credit unions to achieve economies of scale and access to greater market returns otherwise unavailable to them. They have also been an important source of liquidity for credit unions, and have served as agents for the NCUA on loans funded by the NCUA's Central Liquidity Facility.

In response to questions concerning the interagency guidelines issued by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Federal Reserve, and Office of Thrift Supervision (OCC), the agencies issued new, amended guidelines.

Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding the duty for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) to serve underserved markets.

The proposed rule would make significant changes to Part 704 of NCUA's rules and regulations, which pertains to corporate credit unions (corporates). The issues addressed include: capital requirements, investment authority, asset and liability management (ALM), corporate governance and corporate credit union service organizations (CUSOs).

The NCUA Board recently approved an interim final rule amending its regulation that implements the Truth in Savings Act (TISA). This interim final rule establishes uniform standards for the electronic delivery of disclosures required by TISA and is substantially similar to the Federal Reserve Board’s recent interim final rule amending Regulation DD.

On April 19, 2001, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved a proposed rule that would revise NCUA’s regulations on nondiscrimination in advertising. The proposed rule is similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Company’s rule and would give credit unions greater flexibility in giving notice of nondiscrimination.

The Federal Reserve Board has issued interim final rules establishing standards for the electronic delivery of disclosures under Regulations B (Equal Credit Opportunity), E (Electronic Fund Transfers), M (Consumer Leasing), Z (Truth in Lending), and DD (Truth in Savings). Under the rules, financial institutions, creditors, lessors, and others may deliver disclosures electronically if they obtain consumers' consent in accordance with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (the "E-Sign Act").

On March 8, 2001, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved a proposed rule on regulatory flexibility (RegFlex). This rule would permit credit unions with advanced levels of net worth and consistently strong examination ratings to be exempt, in whole or in part, from certain NCUA regulations.

On February 15, 2001, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved a proposed rule to amend Part 749, NCUA’s rule on vital records preservation. The proposal converts the regulation into a question-and-answer format and clarifies that records may be preserved in electronic form.

On February 15, 2001, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved a proposed rule to amend Part 712, the credit union service organization (CUSO) regulation. The proposal clarifies that the list of activities currently in the rule is illustrative and adds a provision encouraging federal credit unions to seek an advisory opinion on whether a proposed activity is authorized.