Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
Y18
Will Proposed Merger Rules Survive?
MANAGEMENT
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 | VOL. 29 | NO. 4 | CUTIMES.COM
Shadow
Hovers
Over
HELOCs
LENDINGFOCUSREPORT:
Y17
he NCUA approved
200 mergers last year,
the exact number of
consolidations green
lighted by the federal agency in
2016. While the number of merg-
ers is not expected to change
much in 2018, what may change
this year are pending new merg-
er rules proposed by the NCUA
board last year, which would
require credit unions to make
controversial disclosures involv-
ing executive compensation and
take what many credit union ex-
ecutives have called additional
cumbersome steps to complete
mergers.
Although the NCUA has report-
edly stepped up its merger review
process by asking more questions
and requiring more documenta-
tion, particularly when it comes
to executive pay, it’s questionable
whether the proposed merger
rules will ever be adopted because
the makeup of the NCUA board is
uncertain.
NCUA Spokesperson John Fairbanks said the proposed merger
rules are still under review and
the agency will not comment on
pending rules.
“We received 89 comments,
and staff is still going over the rule
in light of those [comments],” Fair-
banks said. “I do not yet have an
indication of when the rule will be
brought back to our board.”
enders and economists
said the new tax law
shouldn’t affect most
consumers’ decisions
about buying a home or borrowing
against their equity in one, even
though the tax benefits will disap-
pear for many.
But the gulf between what ought
to be and what is in consumers’
minds has spawned entire categories of professions, and many lend-ers are not sure how consumers
will react when the implications of
the new law sink in.
The mortgage interest deduction
has been part of the middle class
ethos, providing a rite of passage
from the wild, rootless years of the
standard deduction to the settled,
responsible “grownupedness” of
itemized deductions. And with
that mortgage came local property
taxes, conferring even more status.
Even under the old law — the
one being used this spring for 2017
taxes — most people would not
have enough deductions to make
itemizing worth the hassle without
mortgage interest.
A year from now, the amount of
mortgage interest they pay will be
moot for vast swaths of the public.
The same goes for deductions for
state and local taxes.
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CYBERSECURITY OPERATIONS Planning for a Crisis We live in an unpredictable time,
and in the business world, things
can turn upside down in a hurry
and without warning. When a
crisis hits, unpreparedness often
results in problems ranging from
a complete lack of a crisis plan
to a failure to adhere to the plan
once a crisis occurs. The most effective way to handle a crisis is to
have a plan and not only update
it, but make a regular practice of
putting it into action.
Organizations should explore
the various potential crisis situations they can face. Emergencies
such as weather-related disasters, violence, fire and cyberat-tack plans should be charted out
and regularly examined; however, business leaders should
also be regularly looking out for
business-oriented risks in their
occupational areas. Vulnerabilities such as a public relations disaster, operations or IT crashes,
or even the sudden death of key
individuals can throw organizations without a plan in place into
full crisis mode.
Preparation Trumps Panic
It is important that businesses
prepare like true emergency responders. Teams should not go
into panic, but should be able to
smoothly enact the plan. Think
of it like a fire station: Firetrucks
are constantly serviced and polished, hoses are hooked up, tools
and equipment are properly organized and ready to be pulled
from the shelf. That way, Y16
An In-House
ISO Alternative
Consider outsourcing your security
needs. Y12
Three Security
Solutions
Protect data
at work and at
home. Y8
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
JIM DUPLESSIS
jduplessis@cutimes.com