Glossary

    A
  • Example definition
  • Asset-backed security
  • Automated Clearing House
  • Allowance for Credit Loss(es)
  • Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans and Leases (Formerly ALLL or Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses)
  • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Available-for-sale
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • Automated Integrated Regulatory Examination System -- AIRES was the NCUA's examination system of record, and was replaced by MERIT
  • Asset-Liability Management Committee
  • Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (Now Allowance for Credit Losses or ACL)
  • Asset-liability management, is the process of evaluating, monitoring, and controlling changes in a credit union’s market and balance sheet risk. These risks can adversely affect earnings and capital adequacy. Examiners’ evaluation of a credit union’s ALM is reflected in the “L” component of the CAMEL rating. (NCUA Letter to Credit Unions 07-CU-12, CAMEL Rating System). For information, see the Interest Rate Risk and Liquidity sections of the Examiner’s Guide.
  • NCUA's Asset Mangement Assistance Center
  • Anti-Money Laundering
  • Average prime offer rate
  • Annual percentage rate
  • Annual Percentage Yield
  • Adjustable rate mortgage
  • Authorization Request Cryptogram
  • Accounting Standards Codifications
  • Estimates and projections of underlying variables to support modeled valuations, individual sensitivity analysis and stress testing scenarios. Assumptions are useful in providing a basis for "what if" scenarios to simulate different realities or possible situations, hence a forecast of future effects (outcomes) of assumed circumstances or factors. Key quantitative assumptions and computations are subject to change and should be updated with strong internal controls to assess their effect on the final outcome. Assumptions should be reviewed and updated regularly.
  • A computerized electronic machine that performs basic banking functions such as handling check deposits or issuing cash withdrawals. Also called automated teller machine, automatic teller, automatic teller machine.
  • Ability to repay (implemented in Regulation Z) ATR rule requires lender to determine the borrower’s ability to repay the loan and restricts some elements of higher-priced mortgage loans
  • Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule
  • Automated valuation model
  • B
  • Basis points are a unit of measurement used to describe changes in interest rates or other financial percentages. One basis point is equal to 1/100 of one percent.
  • Business Continuity Plans/Planning
  • Beta factors are assumptions about non-maturity shares (NMS) that are used to measure dividend rate changes relative to market rate changes.
  • Bond-Equivalent Yield
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • Bank-Owned Life Insurance. This term and CUOLI (credit union-owned life insurance) are often used interchangeably.
  • Basis point(s): A unit of measurement used to describe changes in interest rates or other financial percentages. One basis point is equal to 1/100 of one percent.
  • Bankruptcy Reform and Consumer Protection Act
  • Bank Secrecy Act
  • A scoping tool that helps identify credit unions with potentially greater BSA complexity or ML/TF risk.
  • C
  • Construction and development
  • Consumer Assistance Center
  • Chief Audit Executive
  • Call Report Form 5300
  • CAMELS is a rating system to evaluate the soundness of credit unions. The letters stand for: Capital Adequacy Asset Quality Management Earnings Liquidity Sensitivity to Market Risk
  • Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
  • NCUA OCFP’s Division of Consumer Compliance Policy and Outreach
  • Complex Credit Union Leverage Ratio
  • Certificate(s) of deposit
  • Customer Due Diligence
  • Community development financial institution(s)
  • Collateralized debt obligation
  • Current Expected Credit Loss
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Contingency Funding Plan
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Code of federal regulations
  • Customer-initiated entries
  • Chief Information Officer
  • Customer Identification Program(s)
  • Consumer Leasing Act (Regulation M)
  • Credit Loss Expense
  • NCUA Central Liquidity Fund
  • Chief Lending Officer
  • Compliance Management System
  • Constant Maturity Treasury
  • Card not present
  • Cost of Funds Index
  • Corporate-Owned Life Insurance
  • A risk concentration is any single exposure or group of exposures with the potential to produce losses large enough (relative to net worth, total assets, or overall risk level) to threaten a financial institution’s health or ability to maintain its core operations.
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Corporate Call report Form 5310
  • A legal concept that separates a corporation or business from its subsidiaries and protects them from being liable for other’s company's debts or other obligations.
  • Certified public accountant(s)
  • Collateral protection insurance
  • Certification Practice Statement
  • Chief Risk Executive
  • Controlled Substances Act
  • Civil Service Retirement System
  • Cash surrender value is the value available to the policyholder if the policy is surrendered. If no loans are outstanding, this amount is generally available in cash. If loans have been made, the amount available upon surrender is equal to the cash surrender value less the outstanding loan (including accrued interest and any surrender charges not included in the CSV calculation).
  • Currency transaction report(s)
  • Credit Union Online
  • Credit Union Membership Access Act
  • Credit Union-Owned Life Insurance. This term and BOLI (bank-owned life insurance) are often used interchangeably.
  • Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures
  • Credit union service organization(s)
  • D
  • Example definition
  • Doing business as
  • Discounted Cash Flow
  • Debt coverage service ratio
  • The decay rate reflects the amount of non-maturity (and other) shares that may be withdrawn or accounts closed in a given rate environment.
  • Do Not Mail accounts are accounts where a member has instructed the credit union not to mail a statement to their address.
  • Department of Defense
  • Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-203, Title X, 124 Stat. 1983 (2010)
  • Document(s) of Resolution
  • Disaster Recovery Planning
  • Division of Special Actions
  • Debt to income
  • Daily Transaction Register
  • E
  • Earnings-at-risk
  • Equal Credit Opportunity Act, implemented in Regulation B Prohibits discrimination against borrowers on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, receipt of public assistance, or good faith exercise of any rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act
  • Expedited Funds Availability Act
  • Electronic funds transfer
  • Electronic Funds Transfer Act
  • Examiner-in-charge
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loan
  • Employer Identification Number
  • Effective Interest Rate
  • Emerging Issues Task Force
  • An option that is an inseparable part of another instrument. Embedded options include caps, floors, calls, puts, and prepayment provisions. Typical embedded options grant early termination rights to the issuer, such as the call provision in many corporate bonds or the homeowner’s prepayment option that permits the issuer to repay the mortgage-backed security earlier than the nominal maturity. While embedded options are not severable, in contrast, detachable options can be traded separately.
  • An option that is an inseparable part of another instrument. Embedded options include caps, floors, calls, puts, and prepayment provisions. Typical embedded options grant early termination rights to the issuer, such as the call provision in many corporate bonds or the homeowner’s prepayment option that permits the issuer to repay the mortgage-backed security earlier than the nominal maturity. While embedded options are not severable, in contrast, detachable options can be traded separately.
  • Electronic payment systems
  • Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.
  • Enterprise Risk Management
  • European Union
  • End User Authorization Contact
  • Economic Value of Equity
  • Examiner, as it is used in the Examiner's Guide, includes any NCUA professional assigned to an examination.
  • F
  • Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act: Amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that protects consumers from identity theft
  • Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act: Amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that protects consumers from identity theft
  • Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation
  • Federal National Mortgage Association: Fannie Mae was founded in 1938 to expand the secondary mortgage market. It is a large aggregator that purchases and packages thousands of similar loans into a mortgage-backed security, then sells the securities to a broad range of investors.Fannie Mae is one of the GSEs subject to FHFA oversight.
  • Frequently asked question(s)
  • Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation
  • Financial Accounting Standards Board
  • Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act
  • Fair Credit Reporting Act, implemented in Regulation V Regulates consumer reporting agencies’ collection of credit information to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information
  • Federal credit union
  • Federal Credit Union Act
  • The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Regulation F) applies when a credit union hires an attorney or collection agency to collect on a debt.
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  • Flood Disaster Protection Act Addresses flood insurance requirements when a home is located in a special flood hazard zone
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Federal Employee Retirement System
  • Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council; the FFIEC is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the FRB, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, and OCC.
  • Federal Housing Administration
  • Federal Housing Finance Authority: FHFA oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHLB System.
  • Federal Home Loan Bank: FHLBs are supervised and regulated by FHFA.
  • Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation was created in 1970 to further expand the secondary mortgage market in the United States. It is a large aggregator that buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them, and sells them as MBSs to investors in the open market. FHLMC is one of the GSEs regulated by FHFA.
  • Federally Insured Credit Union(s)
  • Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
  • Flood Insurance Rate Map
  • Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act
  • Federally insured, state-chartered credit union(s)
  • National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
  • Farmers Home Administration
  • Federal National Mortgage Association was founded in 1938 to expand the secondary mortgage market. It is a large aggregator that purchases and packages thousands of similar loans into a mortgage-backed security, then sells the securities to a broad range of investors. FNMA is one of the GSEs subject to FHFA oversight.
  • Field of Membership
  • Financial Performance Report(s)
  • Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • Federal Reserve Book Entry System
  • Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation: Created in 1970 to further expand the secondary mortgage market in the United States. It is a large aggregator that buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them, and sells them as MBSs to investors in the open market. Freddie Mac is regulated by FHFA.
  • Federal Trade Commission
  • G
  • Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
  • Generally accepted auditing standards
  • Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards
  • Gap insurance, or “Guaranteed Auto Protection” insurance, is an optional insurance coverage that vehicle owners may purchase. It covers the difference between the balance of a lease or loan due on a vehicle and the amount the insurance company pays if the car is considered a covered total loss.
  • General Data Protection Regulation
  • Global debt service coverage ratio
  • Government National Mortage Association
  • General Ledger
  • Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
  • Global Master Repurchase Agreement
  • Government National Mortgage Association
  • A credit union’s gross income includes income generated through loans to members and investment holdings, as well as any fees charged (such as bounced check fees, dormant account fees, loan application fees, ATM fees). Gross income is used to pay the credit union’s operating expenses and dividends to members; any remaining income flows into the credit union’s net worth.
  • Government-sponsored enterprise(s): a quasi-government organization that primarily acts as a financial intermediary to assist borrowers in housing and agriculture. Although GSEs are privately owned, they benefit financially from government sponsorship and are subject to examination by the FHFA. Examples include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Farmer Mac.
  • H
  • Home Affordable Modification Program, part of the Making Home Affordable program
  • Home Affordable Refinance Program (Federal Housing Finance Agency)
  • Home equity conversion mortgage
  • Home equity line(s) of credit
  • Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, implemented in Regulation C Requires certain financial institutions to provide mortgage data to the public
  • Home Owners Equity Protection Act (Section 32 loans, implemented in Regulation Z) HOEPA restricts unfair practices by lenders who offer high cost mortgages, including HELOCs
  • Holder-in-Due Course is a liability situation created for alender when the lender establishes a business relationship with the seller of a product (dealer). This area should be addressed in the dealership agreement to limit a credit union's loss exposure.
  • Homeowner's Protection Act Establishes PMI requirements and restrictions for certain loans
  • Health Savings Account(s)
  • Housing to gross income
  • Held to maturity
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • I
  • International ACH transaction
  • Internal controls over financial reporting
  • Interagency Fair Lending Examination Procedures
  • Interest the Internal Revenue Service considers to have been paid for tax purposes, even if no interest payment was made. The IRS uses imputed interest as a tool to collect tax revenues on loans that don't pay interest, or that have very low stated interest.
  • Interest Only
  • Intrest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts
  • I Owe You
  • Item Processing
  • Item Processing/Remote Deposit Capture
  • Individual retirement account
  • Individual retirement account
  • Interpretive ruling and policy statement(s) issued by NCUA
  • Interest rate risk
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Information Systems and Technology
  • Information Security Exam
  • Information technology
  • Individual Taxpayer Identification Number(s)
  • L
  • Example definition
  • Loan concentration risk outlier(s)
  • London interbank offered rate
  • Low-Income Credit Union
  • Letter of Determination Review
  • Loan to value
  • M
  • Military Annual Percentage Rate
  • Member Account Verification(s)
  • Member business loan(s)
  • Mortgage-backed security/securities
  • Modern Examination & Risk Identification Tool
  • Mortgage Electronic Registration System
  • Multi-Featured, Open-End Lending
  • Management information system
  • Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism
  • Mortgage loan originator(s)
  • Material Loss Review
  • Master Repurchase Agreement
  • Marijuana-Related Business(es)
  • Money Services Business
  • Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreement
  • Master Securities Loan Agreement
  • Machine transfer entities
  • Market Value of Capital
  • Market Value of Equity
  • N
  • Net asset value
  • National Credit Union Administration
  • National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund
  • National Economic Research Associates
  • Net worth is necessary to protect against unexpected future costs, to build a foundation for member service growth and initiatives, and to meet the requirements of NCUA rules and regulations Part 702. In order to build and maintain appropriate net worth levels, credit unions must retain earnings (that is, have net income, sometimes referred to as a “profit”).
  • Net economic value
  • National Flood Insurance Program
  • NCUA Guaranteed Note(s)
  • Net interest income
  • Net long-term asset
  • Non-maturity deposit(s)
  • Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry
  • Non-maturity shares
  • Non-public Personal Information
  • Net Present Value or Net Portfolio Value
  • Nationally recognized statistical research organization(s)
  • Non-sufficient funds
  • National Supervision Policy Manual
  • Net Worth Restoration Plan
  • Net worth ratio
  • O
  • Option-Adjusted Spread
  • Operating Circular 5
  • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Department of the Treasury)
  • Office of Consumer Financial Protection
  • Originating depository financial institution
  • Office of Foreign Assets Control
  • Other Real Estate Owned
  • NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives
  • Office of Thrift Supervision
  • P
  • Planned amortization class(es)
  • Payday alternative loan(s)
  • Payment Analysis and Screening System
  • A loan structure in which the principal cash flows from underlying loans and receivables are paid to the security holders on a pro rata basis.
  • Prompt corrective action(s)
  • perpetual contributed capital accounts
  • Purchased credit-impaired loan(s)
  • Provision for Credit Losses (formerly Provision for Loan and Lease Losses or PLLL)
  • Politically Exposed Persons
  • Personally Identifiable Information
  • Personal identification number(s)
  • Paid-In and Unimpaired Capital and Surplus
  • Provision for Loan and Lease Losses (Now Provision for Credit Losses or PCL)
  • Private-label mortgage-backed security/securities
  • Prize-Linked Savings
  • Private mortgage insurance
  • Principal-only
  • Point of purchase entries/shared network transactions
  • Point-of-sale
  • Prearranged payment and deposit entries
  • Paycheck Protection Program
  • Paycheck Protection Program Lending Facility
  • Password Practice Statement
  • Proflie Form 4501A
  • Prepayment speed assumption
  • Private student loan(s)
  • Planned unit development(s): A planned unit development is a real estate project in which each unit owner has the title to a residential lot and building and a nonexclusive easement on the common areas of the project. The owner may have an exclusive easement over some parts of the common areas (for example, a parking space). FNMA and FHLMC do not purchase PUD projects, but do purchase individual units in such projects.
  • Q
  • A qualified mortgage, or QM, is a loan that includes an assessment of the borrower’s ability to repay under the parameters of the Dodd-Frank Act.
  • R
  • Risk Assessment and Data Analytics Rating
  • Risk Analysis and Trend Evaluation
  • Risk-Based Capital
  • Risk-Based Net Worth
  • Risk Control Assessment
  • Regional Capital Market Specialist(s)
  • Remote Deposit Capture
  • Receiving depository financial institution(s)
  • Curing or “rolling back” an account’s delinquency status. After a number of on-time payments, a delinquent account may be restored as “current”. Borrowers granted re-aging may have suffered a temporary financial setback such as a job loss or illness. High instances of re-aging may indicate an attempt to hide delinquency.
  • 12 CFR Part 1024 - Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X)
  • Real estate mortgage investment conduit
  • Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, implemented in Regulation X Sets rules for certain mortgage settlement disclosures and escrow accounts; addresses mortgage servicing; prohibits unlawful practices, such as kickbacks and referral fees to certain parties involved in the settlement process
  • Risk-focused examination(s)
  • Regional Information Systems Officer(s)
  • Regional lending specialist(s)
  • Return on assets
  • Return on average assets
  • Report of officials
  • Rate-sensitive asset(s)
  • Rate sensitivity factor
  • Rate-sensitive liability/liabilities
  • S
  • Secure and Fair Enforcement of Mortgage Licensing Act (Regulation G) Mandates a nationwide licensing and registration system for residential MLOs and establishes minimum standards for states to license and register MLOs
  • Statement of additional information
  • Suspicious activity report
  • Special Actions Trends Expanded
  • Small Business Administration
  • Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act Provides active duty military certain protections, including requirements to postpone or suspend financial or civil obligations while the servicemember is on active duty away from home
  • Small Credit Union Examination Program
  • Supervisory Examiner(s)
  • Standard entry class
  • Where home loans and servicing rights are bought and sold between lenders and investors. Loans are packaged into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors. The secondary mortgage market allows lenders to reinvest assets into more lending, and increases the supply of money available for mortgage lending and new home purchases.
  • Sponsor Employee Group
  • C-Suite Officers of the Credit Union: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer, etc.
  • Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan
  • Special Flood Hazard Area
  • Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form
  • Structured Finance Industry Group
  • Secure File Transfer Portal(s)
  • Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
  • Secure Information Sharing System
  • A principle of prudent investing that relies on an institution maintaining safety, liquidity, and yield (in that order of priority). The SLY principle is widely acknowledged as sound practice.
  • Subject matter examiner(s) or subject matter expert(s)
  • Service Organization Control
  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
  • Special purpose entity (sometimes referred to as a securitizer or sponsor)
  • State Supervisory Authority
  • Satement on Standards for Attestation Engagements
  • A loan in which the lender does not verify the income or assets of the applicant/borrower.
  • Short-term investment trust
  • A lien with a lower payment priority than others filed on the same property.
  • Society for Worldwide Financial Telecommunications
  • T
  • Treasury bill(s)
  • Target amortization class(es)
  • Total Analysis Process
  • Tax assessment valuation
  • Temporary Corporate Credit Union Liquidity Guarantee Program
  • Troubled debt restructuring
  • Telephone entries
  • Truth In Lending Act
  • A time deposit is one that cannot be withdrawn before a set date, or for which a notice of withdrawal is required.
  • Taxpayer Identification Number
  • Taxpayer Identification Number
  • Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program
  • Third-party payment processor
  • Transaction testing generally refers to the testing of individual items by examining supporting documentation. A SCUEP defined-scope exam relies more heavily on transaction testing than a risk-focused exam, because transaction testing is one of the best techniques examiners can use to determine if a credit union adheres to policies and procedures; ensure records are accurate and up to date; identify potentially fraudulent activity; and make certain credit union practices are safe and sound, not abusive or unfair.
  • TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure(s)
  • Third-party service provider
  • U
  • United States Department of the Treasury
  • Uniform Commercial Code
  • Unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices UDAAP provides consumer protection by prohibiting certain practices that negatively impact consumers, including misleading loan advertising or disclosures
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice
  • V
  • Very accurately defined maturity
  • Virtual Private Network
  • W
  • Weighted-Average Remaining Maturity
  • Web entries