Regulators Roundtable a Success in Its Expanded Format

(Rome, Italy) - The third annual Regulator's Roundtable meeting held on July 24 continued the success of the first two, drawing 26 credit union regulators from 13 countries, as well as representatives from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and The World Bank. Held on the first day of World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) inaugural World Credit Union Conference, it was one of the least conspicuous, but possibly most significant, events of the four-day meeting.

Responding to the need for a discussion forum among international credit union regulators, WOCCU organized the event to discuss the Relationship Between Good Governance and Supervision; Secondary Capital; Risk Focused Exams and Credit Union Correction Methodology; The World Bank Policy Study of Credit Union Supervision; International Accounting Standards Issues and Updates, Basel II and Its Impact on Credit Unions; and BIS Core Principles for Banking Supervision and Their Applicability to Credit Unions. Between each of these brief presentations and during the last hour of the meeting the floor was opened for discussion.

This rare opportunity for exchange between regulators from countries as diverse as the Bahamas, India, Brazil and Australia proved successful for the third year in a row. As Dave Grace, WOCCU's senior manager of association services, said, "It was a day of fruitful discussion. I feel the participants gained a lot from each other in terms of envisioning where their industry needs to go." WOCCU looks forward to the continued growth of this important yearly discussion.

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.