National Credit Union Administration 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The NCUA Board proposes to revise certain provisions of NCUA's official advertising statement rule. Specifically, insured credit unions will be required to include the statement in all radio and television advertisements, annual reports, and statements of condition required to be published by law. The NCUA Board also proposes to define the term ``advertisement'' and clarify size requirements for the official advertising statement in print materials.

NCUA is issuing final amendments to revise the definition of the phrase ``Regional Director'' in NCUA's rule on credit union to mutual savings bank conversions and to add the same revised definition of that phrase to NCUA's rule on conversions to nonfederal deposit insurance.

The NCUA is proposing to permit federal credit unions (FCUs) that do not qualify for a low-income designation using the geo-coding software the NCUA has developed for that purpose to submit an analysis of a statistically valid sample of their member income data as evidence they qualify. The current rule requires, as an alternative to NCUA's geo-coding software, that member data drawn from loan applications or member surveys be used to show a majority of the members are low- income. Permitting FCUs to use a statistically valid sample of member incomes drawn from loan files or a survey will ease the burden on FCUs attempting to qualify for a low-income designation.

The Agencies are issuing final Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines (Guidelines) to provide further clarification of the Agencies' appraisal regulations and supervisory guidance to institutions and examiners about prudent appraisal and evaluation programs. The Guidelines, including their appendices, update and replace existing supervisory guidance documents to reflect developments concerning appraisals and evaluations, as well as changes in appraisal standards and advancements in regulated institutions' collateral valuation methods. The Guidelines clarify the Agencies' longstanding expectations for an institution's appraisal and evaluation program to conduct real estate lending in a safe and sound manner. Further, the Guidelines promote consistency in the application and enforcement of the Agencies' appraisal regulations and safe and sound banking practices. The Agencies recognize that revisions to the Guidelines may be necessary to address future regulations implementing the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

NCUA is issuing proposed amendments to its rule governing corporate credit unions (corporates). The amendments include internal control and reporting requirements for corporates similar to those required for banks under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The amendments require each corporate to establish an enterprise-wide risk management committee staffed with at least one risk management expert. The amendments provide for the equitable sharing of Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund (TCCUSF) expenses among all members of corporates, including both credit union and noncredit union members. The amendments increase the transparency of decision-making by requiring that corporates conduct all board of director votes as recorded votes and include the votes of individual directors in the meeting minutes. The amendments permit corporates to charge their members reasonable one-time or periodic membership fees as necessary to facilitate retained earnings growth. For senior corporate executives who are dual employees of corporate credit union service organizations (CUSOs), the amendments require disclosure of certain compensation received from the corporate CUSO. In addition, this proposal would amend our regulations to limit natural person credit unions (NPCUs) to membership in one corporate credit union at any particular time and provide that a natural person credit union may not make any investment in a corporate credit union of which the natural person credit union is not also a member. These proposed amendments will further strengthen individual corporates and the corporate system as a whole.

NCUA is issuing this Interim Final Rule to amend the definition of ``low-risk assets'' for regulatory capital purposes. Assets in this category receive a risk-weighting of zero, reflecting the absence of credit risk. The amendment will expand the definition of ``low-risk assets'' to include debt instruments on which the payment of principal and interest is unconditionally guaranteed by NCUA as an agency of the Executive Branch of the United States.

NCUA is issuing final amendments to its rule governing corporate credit unions. The major revisions involve corporate credit union capital, investments, asset-liability management, governance, and credit union service organization (CUSO) activities. The amendments establish a new capital scheme, including risk-based capital requirements; impose new prompt corrective action requirements; place various new limits on corporate investments; impose new asset-liability management controls; amend some corporate governance provisions; and limit a corporate CUSO to categories of services preapproved by NCUA. In addition, this rulemaking contains conforming amendments to rules governing Prompt Corrective Action (for natural person credit unions); Investments and Deposit Activities (for federal credit unions); Administrative Actions, Adjudicative Hearings, Rules of Practice and Procedure, and Investigations; and Involuntary Liquidation of Federal Credit Unions and Adjudication of Creditor Claims Involving Federally Insured Credit Unions. These amendments will strengthen individual corporates and the corporate credit union system as a whole.

The NCUA submitted the following information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) (PRA). The original submission was made in connection with proposed amendments to the agency's rule governing corporate credit unions (12 CFR part 704), as approved by the NCUA Board in November, 2009 and published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2009 (74 FR 65210). In view of changes made in the final rule that affect (by reducing) the original burden estimates, as described below, OMB has requested that the agency provide another opportunity for public comment.

NCUA is amending its general lending rule to enable Federal credit unions (FCUs) to offer short-term, small amount loans (STS loans) as a viable alternative to predatory payday loans. The amendment permits FCUs to charge a higher interest rate for an STS loan than is permitted under the general lending rule, but imposes limitations on the permissible term, amount, and fees associated with an STS loan. This final rule also requires an FCU to set a cap on the total dollar amount of STS loans it will make and to set a length of membership requirement of at least one month. Also, any loan under this rule must be fully amortized. The STS loan alternative will assist FCUs in meeting their mission to promote thrift and meet their members' credit needs, particularly the provident needs of members of modest means. Permitting a higher interest rate for STS loans will allow FCUs to make loans cost effective while the limitations will appropriately constrain the product to meeting its purpose as an alternative to predatory credit products. This final rule also includes guidance in the form of ``best practices'' FCUs should consider incorporating into their individual STS programs.

NCUA is amending the definition of ``low-income members'' to clarify that, in determining if a credit union qualifies for a low- income designation, the comparison of credit union data, whether individual or family income data, must be with statistical data for the same category. The amendment will clarify the intention of the original regulatory text so it is consistent with the geo-coding software the agency uses to make the low-income credit union (LICU) designation.

On July 22, 2009, NCUA published a final rule amending part 707, which implements the Truth in Savings Act, and the official staff

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, FCA, and NCUA (collectively, the Agencies) are adopting final rules to implement the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (the S.A.F.E. Act). The S.A.F.E. Act requires an employee of a bank, savings association, credit union or Farm Credit System (FCS) institution and certain of their subsidiaries that are regulated by a Federal banking agency or the FCA (collectively, Agency-regulated institutions) who acts as a residential mortgage loan originator to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry, obtain a unique identifier, and maintain this registration. The final rule further provides that Agency- regulated institutions must: require their employees who act as residential mortgage loan originators to comply with the S.A.F.E. Act's requirements to register and obtain a unique identifier, and adopt and follow written policies and procedures designed to assure compliance with these requirements.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, notice is given that the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is revising its Privacy Act Systems of Records (SOR) Notice. As part of its periodic review of agency systems of records, NCUA proposes to update and revise its SOR Notice. The review identified several changes requiring revision to the SOR Notice including: Changes in recordkeeping practices, agency organizational changes, a system name change, and minor changes to routine uses. No new exemptions from provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 were required. The revisions reflect the changes, clarify, and update the SOR Notice.

NCUA is amending its chartering and field of membership manual to update its community chartering policies. These amendments include using objective and quantifiable criteria to determine the existence of a local community and defining the term ``rural district.'' The amendments clarify NCUA's marketing plan requirements for credit unions converting to or expanding their community charters and define the term ``in danger of insolvency'' for emergency merger purposes.

NCUA is amending a number of its regulations to make minor technical corrections. The amendments update the regulations and make other grammatically necessary corrections. The amendments are intended to provide helpful changes to NCUA's regulations.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) will accept applications for participation in the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund's [Fund's] Loan Program beginning in June 2010, subject to availability of funds. The Fund's total appropriation for loans is $13.4 million.

NCUA proposes to amend its general lending rule to enable federal credit unions (FCUs) to offer short-term, small amount loans (STS loans) as a viable alternative to predatory payday loans. The proposed amendment would permit FCUs to charge a higher interest rate for an STS loan than is permitted under the general lending rule, but the proposal will impose limitations on the permissible term, amount, and fees associated with an STS loan. The STS loan alternative will assist FCUs in meeting their mission to promote thrift and meet their members' credit needs, particularly the provident needs of members of modest means. Permitting a higher interest rate for STS loans will permit FCUs to make loans cost effective while the limitations on the term, amount, and fees will appropriately limit the product to meeting its purpose as an alternative to predatory credit products. This rule also identifies ``best practices'' FCUs should incorporate into their individual STS programs.