More about Brittany Stern
Brittany has more than twelve years of experience and specializing in providing audit and accounting services to financial institutions. In addition to planning, managing and performing financial statement audits for institutions ranging in total assets from $10 million to $50 billion, she has performed engagements designed to test the adequacy of loan documentation and reserves, adherence to internal control policies, outsourced internal audit, and consulting engagements for various compliance requirements.
Blog Posts by Brittany Stern:
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Digital / Online Payment Systems Risk
There are several payment systems available today to enhance the ease and convenience of making financial transactions. Payment systems continue to be developed and offered by both financial and non-financial institutions with just a few clicks to authenticate and transmit funds. The audience of these newly introduced applications are dependent upon the respective vendors to ensure that all required controls have been implemented to protect the data at rest as well as during transmission. Regulatory bodies have also addressed these risks through additional compliance requirements, and established frameworks continue to heighten industry standards to further guide organizations to reduce risk to an acceptable level.
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Payment Systems & Cybersecurity
In an effort to push more capabilities and flexibility to members and customers, financial institutions have embraced automated payment platforms such as FedLine and SWIFT. These services make it easy to exchange funds between individuals and businesses across the country and across borders. Naturally, with the expanded use of these technologies, the cybersecurity risks that correspond to these technologies increase as well. The risks not only threaten the institutions that use these services, but they threaten the organizations that provide them
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NCUA’s Risk-Based Capital Rule is approaching – what does it mean for your Credit Union?
fter a series of extensions, the new standard is effective January 1, 2022. The 2015 Final Rule restructures the NCUA’s current prompt corrective action (PCA) regulations by replacing the existing risk-based net worth ratio with a new risk-based capital ratio for “complex” federally insured, natural-person credit unions. The changes resulting from the new rule result in a risk-based capital calculation more consistent with that used for corporate credit unions and those of other banking agencies, such as the OCC. The new well-capitalized ratio threshold will increase from 7% to 10%.
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Cybersecurity Advisory Prompts Financial Institutions to Analyze Security and Continuity Measures
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently issued a warning cautioning United States organizations of the heightened cybersecurity threats in the wake of conflicts between Russia and Ukraine. The CISA prompted financial regulators to instruct their financial institutions to reevaluate security and continuity planning. Regulators warn that the current cybersecurity threat landscape may exceed previously acceptable recovery arrangements.