CUNA welcomes the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s efforts to adopt strong capital requirements, but has concerns about the lack of analysis of the impact on the cost of conventional mortgage credit in the primary market.

The NCUA board approved the agency’s 2019 and 2020 operating budget at its Thursday meeting, in addition to issuing a proposed rule on fidelity bonds. CUNA presented at the agency’s budget briefing and submitted written comments on the budget.

More than half (52%) of credit union CEOs are female, according to CUNA research, compared with only 5% of commercial bank and 6% of Fortune 500 CEOs, according to CUNA research into CEO gender at financial institutions.

House Republicans conducted leadership elections Wednesday, and. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was named House Minority Leader. House Democrats are expected to conduct their leadership elections in late November.

Registration is still open for Wednesday’s free webinar on CUNA’s Awareness Initiative, which will delve deeper into the “Open Your Eyes” campaign, with a look at the brand platform and a portfolio of consumer-facing materials.

Both chambers of Congress have returned to Washington, D.C. this week to start the final weeks of the 116th Congress. CUNA plans to pursue several advocacy priorities, as well as outreach to newly elected members of Congress.

CUNA, in conjunction with NASCUS, conducted its annual BSA Conference last week, providing nearly 300 attendees with the latest information on BSA, anti-money laundering and Office of Foreign Assets Control compliance issues.

Credit unions have a long history of safeguarding information and are subject to numerous requirements, unlike others that use or maintain consumer information, CUNA wrote in response to a request for comment on an administration data privacy policy.

CUNA attended Friday’s Faster Payments Town Hall meeting in Minneapolis, part of a series of town halls on the topic. CUNA has expressed to the Fed that the increased fraud opportunity a problem with a real-time payment system.

CUNA is continuing its advocacy with lawmakers to secure a fix for an excise tax contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which requires tax-exempt entities to pay a 21% excise tax on certain employee compensation.