Compliance Update with Amy K

​Free CECL webinar next week; CDRLF grant round opening soon – join this free webinar to learn more; and help prevent scams with these educational resources. 

by Amy Kleinschmit, Chief Compliance Officer

Reminder - DakCU CECL Webinar Next Week
Join us Tuesday, April 18, at 10:00 a.m. (CT) for a FREE webinar on NCUA’s Simplified CECL Tool. The Simplified CECL Tool provides a methodology for credit unions to determine the Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL) on loans and leases for their loan portfolio. The complimentary webinar will include a review of the NCUA’s latest Simplified CECL Tool, as well as a Q&A session.

Our guest speaker will be Chris McGrath, Acting Chief Accountant, for the National Credit Union Administration, Office of Examination and Insurance.
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McGrath serves the credit union industry with advice and guidance on the application of generally accepted accounting principles. Prior to joining NCUA in 2004, McGrath practiced in financial auditing and assurance with Deloitte & Touche, including three years working out of Istanbul, Turkey, auditing multinational companies under U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. For NCUA, he has served as its Budget Officer as well as leading financial reporting on its Share Insurance Fund. McGrath is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Maryland and Virginia. For over 15 years, McGrath has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University teaching accounting, finance, and economics. 

Registration is free and can be found here.

May 1 – Apply for NCUA CDRLF Grant
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recently announced the opening of the 2023 Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) grant applications with approximately $3.5 million available. Eligible credit unions can apply between May 1 and June 30.

The 2023 CDRLF grant round is open to credit unions with either a low-income designation or certification as a minority depository institution. A credit union applying for a CDRLF grant must have an active account with the System for Award Management (SAM), and a unique entity identifier number they will receive when they register for a SAM account.

NCUA will be awarding grants in five categories:

• Underserved Outreach (maximum award of $50,000) — Helping credit unions expand safe, fair and affordable access to financial products and services to underserved communities and improve the financial well-being of their members;
• MDI Capacity Building (maximum award of $50,000) — Preserving MDI credit unions and increasing their ability to thrive and serve minority populations;
• Consumer Financial Protection (maximum award of $10,000) — Ensuring credit unions have the resources and expertise to protect credit union members, raise awareness of potential frauds, and facilitate access to fair and affordable financial services;
• Digital Services and Cybersecurity (maximum award of $10,000) — Providing assistance to credit unions to modernize information and security systems to better protect themselves and their members from cyberattacks; and
• Training (maximum award of $5,000) — Strengthening credit unions through succession planning, leadership development, staff education, and professional development.

April 26 – Learn More About the NCUA Grants
The NCUA will also be hosting a free webinar to learn more about the 2023 CDRLF grants on April 26. Registration can be found here.
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In addition to the CDRLF grants, NCUA will also be sharing information on their Small Credit Union and MDI Support Program and online courses and other materials available on the NCUA’s Learning Management System.

Prevent Scams with Education
A reminder on the resources that are available to help educate members about scams. The FTC has infographics that can help spread the word about fraud threats, such as this one – that warns consumers to “never pay anyone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer or a gift card.”
Recently, the FTC discussed scams involving IRS impersonators and provided these tips to avoid impersonators –

• Don’t give your personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you out of the blue. Government agencies won’t call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for personal information, like your Social Security or bank account numbers.
• Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay anyone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card.
• Don’t trust your caller ID. Your caller ID might show an actual government agency or company’s name or phone number. But caller ID can be faked. It could be anyone calling from anywhere in the world.
• Don’t click on links in unexpected emails or text messages. And never give remote access to your computer to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly.

Do you have members claiming they won a prize and need to pay money – never pay to get a prize – that’s a scam. The most recent FTC data shows people reported losing $301 million to this type of fraud.

FTC tips on ways to spot and avoid prize scams include:

• Don’t pay to get a prize. Real prizes are free. Anyone who asks you to pay a fee for "taxes," "shipping and handling charges," or “processing fees” to get your prize, is a scammer. Stop and walk away.
• Don’t give your financial information. There is absolutely no reason to ever give your bank account or credit card number to claim a prize. If anyone asks for it, it’s a scam.
• Don’t give your personal information. Scammers hope you’ll click on links that will take your personal information or download malware on your device. Delete the message without clicking on the links and don’t respond.

Find more information on scams and how to prevent them here - https://consumer.ftc.gov/scams
NCUA’s fraud prevention center can be found here.
CFPB also has a number of resources on frauds and scams which can be found here. 
 
As always, DakCU members may contact Amy Kleinschmit with any compliance related questions.