CUNA announced Monday the appointment of Damon Smith as the Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel. In his role at CUNA, Smith will contribute to regulatory advocacy issues for the organization, particularly relating to housing policy and finance issues.

CUNA Chief Engagement Officer Greg Michlig joined CUBroadcast recently to talk CUNA’s Credit Union System COVID-19 Restart and Recovery Task Force, including how it represents a strategic restarting process, what the task force’s work will look like and more.

The Senate in in session this week but the House is not. The Senate Banking Committee will meet in executive session Wednesday to, among other nominees, vote on the nomination if Kyle Hauptman to serve on the NCUA board.

CUNA, Leagues and credit unions continue their engagement with policymakers as Congress works on the next phase of pandemic recovery legislation. Both chambers have passed bills, and while both contain some positives, CUNA is pushing for the inclusion of PPP forgiveness legislation, among other provisions.

Credit unions and Leagues met with Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) on Friday to discuss credit union involvement in the Paycheck Protection Program and his proposed bill to forgive most PPP loans.

CUNA joined over 400 organizations Thursday to call on Congress to include the COVID-19 liability protections set forth in the “SAFE TO WORK Act” (S. 4317) in the Phase IV COVID-19 relief package.  

Credit unions can discover new lending opportunities for their small business exporters through a webinar hosted by NCUA and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. It will discuss the Working Capital Loan Guarantee program, which provides a 90% guarantee against loans to exporters.

CUNA Finance Council announces recipients of the 2020 CUNA Finance Council Awards, the most prestigious industry award for credit union finance professionals. CUNA Finance Councils Awards are celebrated annually at the 2020 CUNA Finance Council Conference.

FinCEN issued an advisory July 30 to alert financial institutions to potential indicators of cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic, according to FinCEN.

NCUA issued proposals on CECL transition methodology and fees paid by federal credit unions, in addition to finalizing its field-of-membership rule Thursday. The board also issued a request for comment on OTR and operating fee methodologies and received a briefing on the 2020 mid-session budget.