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membership@work. When Target announced a data breach late last year,. CUNA's regulatory team—along with CO-OP Financial. Services, CUNA Mutual ...
membership@work membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

Protecting CU Interests in Target Breach When Target announced a data breach late last year, CUNA’s regulatory team—along with CO-OP Financial Services, CUNA Mutual Group, CUSOs, Financial Services Information Sharing, Visa, and MasterCard— immediately took action to notify credit unions and determine the potential impact of the breach. The breach involves up to 40 million debit and credit cards and the personal information of up to 70 million individuals. CUNA and the leagues provided education on ways to mitigate the risks to credit unions and members. CUNA developed a survey to help credit unions assess the costs of the breach, such as potential fraud costs and the costs of reissuing cards. CUNA will use the results

to advocate on behalf of credit unions to legislators, regulators, and in courts, if necessary. CUNA and league leaders also raised questions with key policymakers about merchant security responsibilities. “This latest breach once more raises the issue of the retailers’ responsibility in securing information for card transactions at their stores,” says CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney. And in a Jan. 4 Sacramento Bee op-ed, Diana Dykstra, president/ CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, said the massive, pre-holiday card data security breach at Target serves to illustrate the serious need for tougher card- and cybersecurity measures to protect consumers. This critical topic will be a focus in Congress and with state legislatures in 2014.

Easing QM Compliance for CUs With the January 2014 date looming for compliance with CFPB’s mortgage regulations, CUNA’s compliance teams intensified efforts to get credit unions ready with these resources: • A package of 18 CompNOTES and charts detailing CFPB’s new regulations; • Articles from Credit Union Magazine; • Answers from compliance attorneys to hundreds of credit union questions; and • Blog entries to clarify the regulations and keep credit unions up-to-speed on the agency’s continuous revisions. • A new mortgage compliance toolkit designed to facilitate the management and implementation of new regulations and updates affecting the credit union movement.

membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

Look to the compliance home page at cuna.org for a compilation of all the resources CUNA has available to help credit unions understand these news rules and meet the compliance deadlines.

GO-TO MORTGAGE TRAINING RESOURCES 11,233 credit union employees attended 52 face-to-face mortgage sessions through CUNA’s center for professional development, along with 13 online courses, e-schools, and/or webinars during the year.

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membership@work Protecting Credit Unions on Capitol Hill Progress was made on protecting credit unions from patent trolls as the House of Representatives passed a bill with several CUNA-supported provisions. Further, as the Senate began its deliberations, John Dwyer, President/ CEO of New England Federal Credit Union in Vermont represented credit union interests to the Senate Judiciary Committee as a CUNA witness.

attacks in several states and Congress’ continued efforts to reform the tax code, which means credit unions must remain engaged in support of the tax status.

CUNA took leadership in efforts to reform the housing finance system as CUNA testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the Corker-Warner housing finance reform bill in November and then submitted several dozen pages of legislative language to support recommendations that will ensure credit union’s future role in the housing finance. The House Financial Services Committee passed a CUNA-supported bill to permit share insurance coverage on lawyer trust accounts and other similar accounts. This was the first time that committee had approved a stand-alone piece of credit union regulatory relief legislation since 1998 (H.R. 1151).

John Dwyer,  president/CEO of New England FCU, Williston, Vt., tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that if left unchecked, the problem of “patent troll” demand letters will deter institutions like his from using new technologies,  including ATMs, online and mobile banking, remote check capture, and check processing.

Rose Bartolmucci, President/CEO of Towpath Credit Union in Ohio testified on behalf of CUNA during the December 4th House Financial Services subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit, taking the opportunity to articulate the growing regulatory burden on credit unions and the need for real relief. Credit Union Tax Status remained untouched as the “Don’t Tax My Credit Union” campaign helped insulate credit unions during behind the scenes discussions on Capitol Hill, and the government shutdown slowed progress on tax reform in general. However, banker

“The crisis of creeping complexity with respect to regulatory burden is very real” for credit unions and other community-based financial institutions was the message that Rose Bartolomucci, president/CEO of Towpath CU, delivered to Capitol Hill.

NCUF to Participate in Filene Incubator The National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) was selected as one of five participants in the Filene Research Institute’s Accessible Financial Services Incubator.  Funded by a $700,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, the incubator will test, package, and scale innovative, viable financial products that benefit lowand-moderate-income U.S. consumers. 

membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

During the next 18 months, credit unions will be testing NCUF’s REAL Solutions™ nonprime auto lending product. NCUF provides credit unions with tools to serve member needs and further demonstrate how credit union’s deliver service excellence to all American’s, including those of modest means. cuna.org

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membership@work Pressing for Reg Relief CUNA regulatory advocacy team continued to press for regulatory relief with NCUA, CFPB and other regulators. CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney sent a 13-page letter to NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz and other board members listing concerns regarding regulatory and examination issues, and providing positive alternatives to minimize credit unions’ regulatory burdens.  The agency told credit unions during a recent webinar that it won’t be looking for immediate compliance with the new mortgage regulations, something CUNA has long been advocating. CUNA had been telling NCUA for months that there’s no need to charge a corporate credit union stabilization fund assessment, and in late November, the agency announced no assessment for 2014. Cheney also reached out to Mel Watt, new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to ensure he understands credit union concerns about governmentsponsored enterprise policies and practices.

GRASSROOTS OUTPOURING SENDS CONGRESS A MESSAGE The Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign continued to gain steam, generating more than 1.3 million contacts to Capitol Hill. This massive outpouring of grassroots support—via emails, social media, phone calls and even old-fashioned letters— ensured that Congress hears a loud, clear message from consumers not to touch credit unions in any possible tax reform legislation.

RECORD NET FOR CULAC CULAC raised more than $2.1 million in 2013, a record for net receipts. These funds, voluntarily contributed in small amounts by credit union members nationwide, enabled CUNA, the leagues, and credit unions to attend more than 1,000 fund-raising events for pro-credit union Congressional candidates throughout the country.

Staying Engaged with Tax Reform Battle The Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign helped insulate credit unions during behind-the-scenes discussions on Capitol Hill, and the government shutdown slowed progress on tax reform in general.  But banker attacks in several states and the continued efforts of Congress to reform the tax code mean credit unions must remain engaged in support of the tax status. One group taking up the Don’t Tax My Credit Union fight on a local level is the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas (CUAD). Along with credit unions from that state, CUAD has challenged efforts by South Dakota banks to attack the credit union tax exemption at the county level. Bankers in the state are bringing “tax equity resolutions” for consideration by local county commissions, which call for county support of repeal of the exemption. But membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

credit unions are fighting back. One resolution which banks brought before a county commission was tabled, indefinitely, by a vote of 4-0. “But the bankers are still at it—and we’re working with the CUAD to help them in every way we can to push back this latest scheme by bankers to attack our tax status,” Cheney wrote in his weekly Cheney Report. “Having the CUAD team on the ground in South Dakota once again reinforced the importance and value of the CUNA-League System—ensuring that credit union interests are protected in all 50 states,” noted Pat Sowick, CUNA SVP League and State Affairs. cuna.org

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membership@work Keeping You Informed CUNA Communications provided USA Today findings from its mobile payments survey bringing credit unions into this important consumer conversation. The information landed on the front page of the paper’s Money section. Titled “Youngest adults are not the top users of mobile payments,” the infographic broke down the survey by age groups. Top stories from CUNA’s News Now focused on the Target breach, regulatory and exam issues along with news about the JP Morgan settlement for the losses from mortgage-backed securities. CUNA was the first to get the word out to credit unions about the settlement and provide analysis. CUNA’s communications team garnered media coverage in influential national media outlets such as:

Holiday Spending Projection Gets Exposure The release of our 14th annual projection of consumers' holiday spending plans in partnership with the Consumer Federation of America, garnered widespread press coverage, including a live broadcast on C-SPAN, and a number of other national outlets (Fox Business, NBC, Hearst Television). Over the weekend following the press conference, clips from the pre-Thanksgiving press conference unveiling the survey results were also broadcast regularly on NBC's Channel 4 in Washington, D.C. The survey results, which were unveiled at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., found that more consumers planned to spend more than they did last year, while fewer planned to reduce their 2013 holiday spending. The release of the survey membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

results helps spread the word about credit unions and reinforces that credit unions are a trusted financial resource for consumers. cuna.org

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membership@work Credit unions saved more than $21 million (through September) by using CUNA Strategic Services alliance providers. WORKPLACE

Of Interest • CUNA’s regulatory advocacy team filed 12 more comment letters in the fourth quarter for a total of 60 for 2013. • CUNA state government affairs staff tracked more than 2,000 legislative bills impacting credit unions from around the country. • Enthusiasm grew for the CUNA Volunteer Certification Program, with the certification of 36 new Certified Credit Union Volunteers (CCUVs). The program also held its first “update” event with 45 attendees. • In-depth compliance training at CUNA’s four compliance schools helped 878 credit union, league, and examiner attendees stay on top of ever changing regulations in 2013.

CREDIT UNIONS EMBRACING eLEARNING Innovative, online training options through CUNA’s center for professional development meet the evolving needs of credit unions leaders and their staff. CPD released four new tablet-based online courses, bringing the total number of mobile-based courses to 21. In addition: • More than 14,200 credit union employees and volunteers completed nearly 97,000 courses and exams on CUNA CPDOnline. • 2,280 students participated in CUNA e-schools and webinars in the 4th quarter. Source: CUNA Councils

For more information on CUNA-League Membership, please contact your League or Jeff Carpenter, CUNA VP of Membership Development at [email protected].

membership@work 4th Quarter 2013 Report

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