National Credit Union Administration July 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recognizes the importance of minority credit unions and the unique challenges they often face in serving their communities. NCUA is establishing a Minority Depository Institution Preservation Program to encourage the preservation of Minority Depository Institutions. The program, to be administered by NCUA's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, would consist of outreach efforts, various forms of technical assistance, and educational opportunities to benefit eligible credit unions.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. On March 22, 2010, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and National Credit Union Administration (the agencies) published in the Federal Register a joint final notice (75 FR 13656) implementing the guidance effective on May 21, 2010. The Guidance reiterates the process that institutions should follow to appropriately identify, measure, monitor, and control their funding and liquidity risk. In particular, the Guidance re- emphasizes the importance of cash flow projections, diversified funding sources, stress testing, a cushion of liquid assets, and a formal well- developed contingency funding plan (CFP) as primary tools for measuring and managing liquidity risk. The agencies expect all financial institutions \1\ to manage liquidity risk using processes and systems that are commensurate with the institution's complexity, risk profile, and scope of operations. Liquidity risk management processes and plans should be well documented and available for supervisory review. Failure to maintain an adequate liquidity risk management process is considered an unsafe and unsound practice.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. Section 701.36 of the NCUA Rules and Regulations regulates ownership of fixed assets by federal credit unions. This rule ensures that federal credit unions do not undertake undue risk related to fixed assets. Specifically, section 701.36 limits the aggregate amount of fixed assets, defines the duration for which property can be held before it must be occupied or disposed and, defines prohibited transactions. This information collection enables NCUA to evaluate waiver requests of these limitations.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and is required under Section 205 of the Federal Credit Union Act (FCU Act) to allow federally-insured credit unions (FICUs) to purchase assets or assume liabilities of privately- insured credit unions, other financial institutions, or their successor in interest.

The NCUA, as part of their continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). NCUA is soliciting comments concerning the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). As Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) administrator, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) transitioned from a system originally designed for collecting industry specific paper forms to a modernized information technology environment centered on electronic reporting. Based on financial institution type, depository institutions, broker-dealers in securities, futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in commodities, insurance companies, mutual funds, money services businesses, and casinos currently filed reports on four separate forms. FinCEN's objective is to have one electronically-filed dynamic and interactive BSA-SAR that will be used by all filing institutions to report suspicious activity as of April 1, 2013. There are no proposed changes to the regulatory reporting criteria for information collection. Federally insured credit unions will continue to follow the regulation, interagency guidance, and filing instructions to determine when a report should be filed and what information should be included on the report. The interactive BSA-SAR includes several new data fields and introduces data fields from the SARs of other industries. On March 29, 2012, FinCEN released guidance \1\ titled, ``Filing FinCEN's new Currency Transaction Report and Suspicious Activity Report''. This guidance clarified expectations and notes that FinCEN is making available additional and more specific data elements (i.e., characterizations of suspicious activity and types of financial services) as a more efficient way to bring information about suspicious activity to the attention of FinCEN and law enforcement. The guidance clarified the addition of new and expanded data elements; however, the guidance does not create an expectation that financial institutions will revise internal programs, or develop new programs, to capture information that reflects the expanded lists.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. Section 741.2 of the NCUA Rules and Regulations (12 CFR part 741) places a maximum borrowing limit on federally insured credit unions. State chartered federally insured credit unions must seek a waiver of the borrowing limit from the NCUA Regional Director prior to exceeding this limitation.

The NCUA is submitting the following information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for reinstatement under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). Notice of this information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. Under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), financial institutions that meet the reporting criteria must compile and make available data about their housing-related lending activity. The data is made available to the public for the purposes of: (i) Helping to determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities; (ii) assisting public officials in distributing public-sector investment so as to attract private investment to areas where it is needed; and (iii) assisting in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing anti-discrimination statutes. The information collection will assist NCUA to ensure credit unions are in compliance with fair lending laws and regulations.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection notice is published to obtain comments from the public. This is related to NCUA's regulation on mergers of federally-insured credit unions and voluntary termination or conversion of insured status.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). The information collection relates to requests for non-public records and for testimony by NCUA employees in legal proceedings. This information collection notice is published to obtain comments from the public.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. Part 741, Section 741.11 of the NCUA Rules and Regulations contains a provision that any insured credit union must apply for and receive approval from the regional director before establishing a credit union branch outside the United States unless the foreign branch is located on a United States military institution or embassy outside the United States.

The NCUA intends to submit 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). This information collection is published to obtain comments from the public. Part 749 of the NCUA Regulations directs each credit union to have a vital records preservation program that includes procedures for maintaining duplicate vital records at a location far enough from the credit union's offices to avoid the simultaneous loss of both sets of records in the event of a disaster. Part 749 requires a written vital records preservation program that includes a schedule for the storage and destruction of records and emergency contact information for employees, officials, regulatory offices, and vendors used to support vital records.