Caja Popular Mexicana Annual Meeting

League Representatives Attend Annual Meeting Of Mexico's Largest CU

L-R: WOCCU-Project Director Mario Galarraga; Confederation of Financial Cooperatives of the Mexican Republic Chairman of the Board and CEO of Alianza CU Federation Tomás Carrizales; and League President and CEO Bill Cheney at the 2006 CPM Annual Meeting.

California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues President and CEO Bill Cheney; Vice President of Business Services Sylvia Fath; and League Diversity Committee members, Arrowhead CU Board Chairman Marie Alonzo and Printing Industries CU President and CEO Rick Dockery attended the 2006 Caja Popular Mexicana (CPM) Annual Meeting, held April 21-22 in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

More than 400 participants attended the two- day annual meeting that also featured local and international speakers. Cheney was an honorary guest and speaker. In an address to attendees, he reiterated the League's continued support and commitment to assisting CPM through the International Partnership currently in existence. He also stated, "The International Partnership between the California and Texas Credit Union Leagues, CPM, and World Council of Credits Unions was recently honored with the Herb Wegner Award, which is the most prestigious award granted by the U.S. credit union movement - a testimony to the success of the International Partnership and what can be accomplished when credit unions work together."

The Mexican cooperative was established in 1951 and today is the largest credit union in Latin America with more than $1 billion in assets. In the last five years, CPM has experienced phenomenal growth: membership has soared from 400,000 to 970,000 members, and CPM currently has more than 200,000 youth accounts - serving more than 1 million people total. CPM has also expanded to 333 branches in 22 states. In addition, CPM recently converted all of its branches to the new FISERV IT system, which will allow the credit union to offer more products and better services to its members.

The panel of honorary guest speakers at the 2006 CPM Annual Meeting.

CPM is committed to ensuring the financial strength and stability of its members, elected officials, management team, and staff. CPM encourages members to actively participate in the cooperatives' governance by offering a thorough financial literacy program. In addition, members who wish to participate as board representatives must complete an extensive five-year training program before serving on the board. The credit union's philosophy is that members who are well- educated in finances have the ability to personally build strong and viable financial futures for themselves and their communities.

Printing Industries CU President and CEO Rick Dockery commented on his visit with CPM, "I was seriously moved by how deeply they care for their members and how much of an impact they make in the individual lives of so many people."

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.