MillerSmiles provides its weekly phishing analysis for the week of 19th February 2011 to 26th February 2011

CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney is scheduled to testify Wednesday before a House Financial Services subcommittee, which is studying the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on small financial institutions and small businesses.

The House Financial Services Committee on March 3 will begin markup of legislation that would end funding of the Home Affordable Modification Program and a trio of other federal housing-related programs.

Free checking accounts are “alive and well at many of the nation’s top credit unions,” according to Bankrate’s Second Annual Credit Union Checking Study. The study was released Thursday.

The Maryland & District of Columbia Credit Union Association and the New Jersey Credit Union League have agreed to explore a potential merger.

Michael McGrath, the New Jersey man at the center of the fraudulent mortgage loans that defrauded nearly $140 million from 28 credit unions, Fannie Mae and others, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday by U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden in Newark.

Georgia consumers are not optimistic about the state’s economic condition, according to a poll from Georgia Credit Union Affiliates. It found 12% of consumers surveyed said they believe the economy has improved in the past year, while another 40% said the economy was getting worse.

Automatically enrolling new members with free checking accounts into for-pay identity theft prevention programs, “while only using an opt-out option, appears to be an unfair or deceptive practice and may present problems” under NCUA regulations.

Recent regulatory changes and the increasingly complex and demanding role of credit union volunteers have driven CUNA’s launch of the CUNA Volunteer Network, an online community and resource center for credit union volunteers.

Sunday’s H&FF Radio program covers tax advice for the self-employed and solutions to mortgage problems.