Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) announced this week he will not seek re-election to Congress in 2022. First elected in 2014, he has been a strong credit union champion throughout his time in Congress and is the current ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

CUNA joined the Chamber of Commerce and multiple bank trade associations in filing an amicus brief this week in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case that could expand the potential actions that would violate the FDCPA.

NCUA’s latest Letter to Credit Unions provides credit unions with an update on the agency’s examination programs, including the Modern Examination and Risk Identification Tool (MERIT) and associated systems, as well as the updated CAMELS rating system.

NCUA issued a Letter to Credit Unions outlining its supervisory priorities for 2022 which include Credit risk management, cybersecurity, payment services, BSA and AML/CFT compliance, risk-based capital implementation, and consumer financial protection.

The House and Senate are in session this week to consider various legislation. Committee hearings will cover cryptocurrency blockchains and their energy impacts, as well as the state of rural economies with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

CUNA Senior Economist Dawit Kebede shared his thoughts on projected increases in credit card interest rates for an article in Bankrate article on the topic. These interest rates began to climb in 2021, a trend that will likely continue into 2022.

CUNA wrote to the CFPB Thursday with suggestions for additional data development and analysis in order to promote shared understanding of overdraft services, including conducting a study of consumer preferences regarding overdraft.

CUNA looks forward to working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director on credit union priorities and encourages FHFA to use CUNA as a resource.

CUNA Senior Economist Dawit Kebede said as consumer prices continued to rise, a prolonged surge of the omicron variant may continue to push prices higher by worsening labor shortages and supply disruptions, which showed signs of improvement in December. 

CUNA Chief Economist Mike Schenk takes an in-depth look into CUNA’s Financial Well-Being for All initiative in this month’s Economic Update video, including how it informs CUNA and League strategy and is essential to advocacy.