One of the benefits of your credit union's League membership is access to InfoSight--a valuable online compliance resource. This newsletter contains some timely highlights, and access to InfoSight is a benefit of League affiliation, so it is password-protected. If you have a specific compliance issue or concern, contact our Consulting Department at (800) 285-5300. Replies to this email will be directed to SVP, League Services & Regulatory Analysis Joe Guilfoy .
InfoSight Highlight
Reserve Requirements
The Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) Regulation D was established in 1980. It contains four primary provisions that affect depository institutions, including natural person credit unions.
  1. Credit unions may be required to maintain reserves. 
  2. Credit unions may have to place limits on certain deposit accounts in order to avoid having to reserve against those accounts.
  3. Credit unions are required to impose certain penalties for early withdrawal from time deposit accounts in order to avoid having to reserve against the time deposit.
  4. Credit unions may be required to report account information to the Federal Reserve.

Regulation D controls how credit unions define certain terms and conditions of deposit accounts, since the characteristics of the accounts determine whether the credit union must reserve against the accounts. The following accounts are subject to Regulation D reserve requirements: transaction accounts, time deposits, savings accounts, and Euro-currency deposits.

The Regulation D thresholds are annually adjusted to account generally for 80% of transaction accounts and overall deposit growth or decline. The percentage of actual reserving can be changed by the Federal Reserve Board in order to execute monetary policy that is to make currency more or less plentiful and to influence interest rates.

Click here to view the topic, and to ensure your credit union is in compliance and to view the 2018 reserve requirements.
Compliance Videos
Compliance Outlook for Q4 2017
In this video, Glory LeDu provides a brief summary of the key changes of the new HMDA rules that became effective January 1, 2018. You won’t want to miss this important overview!
Quarterly Update for Q4 and Review of Q3
This newly released Compliance Connection video reviews those laws and regulations effective in the 3 rd Quarter of 2017 and tells credit unions what to prepare for in the 4 th Quarter of 2017 as well as what’s coming up in the first half of 2018. You won’t want to miss it!
 
Just a reminder that Compliance videos since 2016 can be found on YouTube at the Compliance Connection channel , where they are generally updated quarterly.
Compliance News
Direct Deposit Tax Refunds Limited to Three
As tax season approaches (begins January 29 th) credit unions should keep an eye out for tax scammers. In an effort to combat fraud and identity theft, in 2015 the IRS began limiting the number of refunds electronically deposited into a single financial account or pre-paid debit card to no more than three. The fourth and subsequent refunds automatically convert to a paper refund check and are mailed to the taxpayer.

According to the IRS, the vast majority of taxpayers are not affected by this limitation, however some taxpayers, such as families in which the parent's and children's refunds are deposited into a parent's account may be affected.

The direct deposit limit is in place to prevent criminals from easily obtaining multiple refunds and to protect taxpayers from preparers who obtain payment for their tax preparation services by depositing part or all of their clients' refunds into the preparers' own credit union accounts.

For more information, visit the  IRS website.
Reminder: New W-8BEN Rules 
For IRS W-8BEN forms obtained on or after January 1, 2017, you must collect a date of birth for the foreign credit union member. However, if you have the foreign member’s date of birth in your files, you may use that information for reporting purposes and will not be required to treat a Form W-8BEN as invalid because it did not include a date of birth. 

Also, after January 1 st , if you have an otherwise valid Form W-8BEN, but it is missing a foreign TIN, you are permitted   to obtain the member’s foreign TIN on a written statement provided by the member (including a written statement transmitted by email) that indicates that the foreign TIN is to be associated with the member’s Form W-8BEN. Similarly, you are permitted to obtain the reasonable explanation for the absence of a foreign TIN in this manner.

For more information see the CUNA January 12, 2017 blog post:  How the New FATCA Rules May Affect Your W-8BEN and 1042-S Reporting.

Source: CUNA Compliance Blog
Weekly Regulatory Advocacy Report
The Weekly Advocacy Report provides links to information about a number of recent League, CUNA and NCUA regulatory and advocacy activities. 
   
Upcoming Education Sessions
The League has several education sessions coming up. Several focus on compliance issues. They are listed in calendar format on the League website.
   
League Consulting Department Staff
(800) 285-5300
Compliance Calendar
January
  • January 15, 2018: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday - Federal Holiday
February
  • February 19, 2018: President's Day - Federal Holiday
March
  • March 16, 2018: Same-day ACH (NACHA) – Phase 3 of the implementation period for the rule.
April
  • April 1, 2018: Prepaid Accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act/Regulation E and the Truth In Lending Act/Regulation Z (Date Extended)
May
  • May 11, 2018: Customer Due Diligence – CDD (FinCEN) – Effective date
  • May 28, 2018: Memorial Day - Federal Holiday
July
  • July 4, 2018: Independence Day - Federal Holiday
September
  • September 3, 2018: Labor Day - Federal Holiday
October
  • October 8, 2018: Columbus Day - Federal Holiday
November
  • November 12, 2018: Veterans Day (observed) - Federal Holiday
There's more available from InfoSight
InfoSight content is available from the League's website . Visit anytime to get sample policies, links to federal regulations and summaries of issues that are hot-topics at your credit union. 
 
Access to InfoSight is a benefit of League affiliation, so it is password-protected. If you don't have a password or if you have forgotten yours, click on the tan "Log In" button in upper right corner of the site; a box will open. Click on the blue wording to get your password.