International Credit Union Regulators Meet at 2006 World Conference

N. Srinivasan, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (India) and N.S. Vishwanathan, Reserve Bank of India, at the Regulators' Roundtable.

The 2006 WOCCU World Credit Union Conference wasn't just for credit union and association professionals. Regulators were also given a prime opportunity to network at the 4th annual Regulators' Roundtable, July 26-27.

Prior to the opening ceremony of the World Conference, 33 regulators from 15 countries shared concerns and practices in credit union regulation. This year's roundtable, hosted in conjunction with the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, attracted the largest number of participants in the meeting's history.

In the months leading up to the roundtable, WOCCU distributed a 40-question survey among leading regulators to gather a global perspective on current issues and risks in the credit union industry. Twenty regulators from 17 countries responded, and the roundtable agenda was created from their feedback.

Roundtable discussions focused on trends such as implementation of Basel II, credit union competition, governance, consolidation and demutualization. Regulators from Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom gave presentations and led discussions on best practices in the countries represented at the meetings.

"This is the only place in the world that so many credit union leaders can meet, network and discuss their concerns," Dave Grace, WOCCU senior manager of association services and roundtable organizer emphasized. "Regulators look to WOCCU to help bring them together and to help share best practices in regulation."

Regulators expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for the event, even requesting a longer, two-day meeting at next year's conference in Calgary, Canada.

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.