As a reminder – Washington Uniform Power of Attorney Act Effective 01/01/2017

Back in May we blogged about this (reprinted below), and since it goes into effect January 1, 2017, we thought we might refresh everyone’s memory… The Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 5635, which repeals the Washington State Power of Attorney Act and replaces it with a slightly modified Uniform Power of Attorney Act. The Act is effective January 1, … Read More

Website Compliance Exams

The Washington State DCU plans on restarting to conduct website compliance exams beginning mid-December.  These exams will not be performed in conjunction with regular safety and soundness examinations, nor will there be giving a separate website compliance rating. Examiner’s concerns and findings will be included in a separate website compliance exam report. The exam report will be brief in nature … Read More

Washington Minimum Wage and Sick Leave

Washington voters approved Initiative # 1433, which will increase the minimum wage and require employers to provide sick leave to all employees. Effective January 1, 2017, the minimum wage will increase to $11.00 an hour for all employees who are eighteen or older.  This minimum will increase each of the following years:  2018 – $11.50/hour; 2019 – $12.00/hour; 2020 – … Read More

MAPCO Settlement

From cuna.org (11/21/16) A settlement has been proposed to resolve legal claims of financial institutions related to a May 2013 data breach.  Any credit union that issued payment cards that were compromised in the breach could get a payment from the class action settlement. In the proposed resolution agreement, involving lawsuits against MAPCO Express, Inc. and Delek US Holdings, Inc. … Read More

CFPB Request for Information Regarding Consumer Access to Financial Records

The CFPB has launched a formal inquiry into obstacles consumers face in accessing and sharing with third parties personal financial records held by banks and other institutions. The action by the bureau comes amid banking industry concern over a commonly used process called “screen scraping” in which consumers provide their online banking credentials to a third-party app or tool. While … Read More

NCUA’s Basics of Data Processing Contracts Resource

The NCUA has released the Basics of Data Processing Contracts, which provides detailed, comprehensive instructions on negotiating contracts with third-party vendors for digital services.  The guidebook covers the elements of the contracting process, including: Requesting and evaluating bids; Performing due diligence on potential vendors; Negotiating terms, including pricing, performance requirements and liabilities; and Contract management and compliance. The guide comes … Read More

IRS Waiver of 60-Day Rollover Requirement

Effective August 24, the IRS changed its appeals process for people who miss the 60-day deadline to rollover funds from a qualified plan or IRA.  The appeals process allows people to provide a self-certification that meets the requirements. For the purpose of accepting and reporting a rollover contribution into a plan or IRA, a plan administrator (credit union) may rely … Read More

Prepaid Account Regulations

On October 5, the CFPB released its final rule for prepaid accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). The rule, which is nearly 1700 pages, provides sweeping consumer protections that impact all aspects of the prepaid industry. The rule, which generally becomes effective on October 1, 2017, will require prepaid providers … Read More

FIN-2016-A005 Cyber-Events and Cyber-Related Crime Reporting

On October 25, 2016, FinCEN released FIN-2016-A005, Advisory to Financial Institutions on Cyber-Events and Cyber-Enabled Crime. It serves as a refresher of the credit union’s SAR filing obligations when encountering cyber-events. A financial institution is required to report a suspicious transaction conducted or attempted by, at, or through the institution that involves or aggregates to $5,000 or more in funds … Read More

NCUA Letter to Credit Unions 16-CU-07 Military Lending Act Examination

Starting October 3, 2016, credit unions must comply with the amended regulation the Department of Defense issued implementing the Military Lending Act. With this amended rule, NCUA intends to take the same examination approach used with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule in 2015 and its Qualified Mortgage and Ability-to-Repay rules in 2014. NCUA examiners are instructed … Read More