WOCCU Educates Caribbean Regulators On CU Difference

Madison, WI-Thirty-five regulators from 18 different countries participated last week in Barbados in a seminar on CU supervision organized by World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) at the request of Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTEC). CARTEC is sponsored by International Monetary Fund, U.S. Agency for International Development, CIDA, Canada, DFID, the United Kingdom, International Development Bank and the World Bank among others.

World Council invited the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) to assist in presenting best practices in supervision of credit unions in the United States. The NASCUS presenters included: Barbara Pogue, director of membership & accreditation, NASCUS; Ella Robinson, retired commissioner from Kentucky; and Roger Little, deputy commissioner from Michigan who shared experiences in the NASCUS Certification Program, financial management, credit risk management and sound lending policies with their colleagues from the Caribbean.

The World Council team of presenters, consisted of Arthur Arnold, president & CEO; Brian Branch, vice president and COO; Mark Cifuentes, senior manager-development; and Jesus Chavez, technical development manager spoke on delegated supervision, quirks in the laws: what works and what does not, effective supervision, good governance and World Council's PEARLS Monitoring System for regulators in the Caribbean.

Caribbean credit union representatives included: Glen Francis, general manager of the Jamaica Cooperative Credit Union League and Martin Guevara, CEO of WOCCU's member organization, the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions also gave presentations on practical approaches to credit union supervision, accounting systems and audit practices.

During the seminar, Glen Francis was able to demonstrate that good supervision supported by WOCCU's PEARLS standards and monitoring system, generates sustainable development results. When World Council started the strengthening project in 1997, the collective institutional capital of all credit unions in Jamaica amounted to a negative 1% of total assets. At the completion of the project in 2000 the institutional capital rate was a positive 4%. Today, it is a positive 8 %. "I have nothing to add. The statistics say it all! Credit unions can become an integral part of a sound and safe financial system in the Caribbean," explained Arnold.

"This is an unique opportunity to educate regulators and supervisors in the Caribbean about the credit union difference. The high level of participation and lively discussions demonstrate that all participants will leave this seminar with a much better understanding what credit unions are all about and how to supervise them more effectively," noted Arthur Arnold, WOCCU president & CEO.

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.