NCUA Issues Regulatory Alerts

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA issued two Regulatory Alerts regarding the effective date for parts of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act and when suspicious activity reports should be filed. The FACT Act alert (05-RA-03) notifies credit unions that certain provisions of the law became effective Dec. 1, 2004. The FACT Act aims to help consumers combat identity theft; establish national standards for the regulation of consumer report information; assist consumers in controlling the type and amount of marketing solicitations they receive; and restrict the use of sensitive medical information. Provisions concerning member identity verification, release of fraud-related documents, stopping re-reporting, credit score disclosure, consumer information disposal, negative information notifications, and risk-based pricing notifications all became effective Dec. 1. More details can be found in the Regulatory Alert. Though regs on the risk-based pricing notification have not been issued, the rule will set a compliance date. Other sections of the FACT Act will become effective as regulations are finalized, including the red flag guidelines, accuracy and integrity guidelines, consumer dispute abilities, and rules covering reconciling addresses. NCUA’s Web site (www.ncua.gov) contains further information on the FACT Act. The agency also issued Regulatory Alert 05-RA-02, concerning SAR filings of transactions blocked due to matches with the Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Specially Designated Nationals list. SARs should be filed when: * the transaction would be reportable under FinCEN’s suspicious activity reporting rules even if there were no OFAC match; * the financial institution is in possession of information not included on the blocking report filed with OFAC; or * if a report has been filed with OFAC and the facts and circumstances surrounding the OFAC match are independently suspicious. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network considers filing the mandatory blocking report sufficient in other instances.