In today’s regulatory environment, many financial rules are set at the international level.
National regulators often have limited discretion to deviate from international standards once they are finalized. Much of this framework is designed to address the needs of large and internationally active banks, and is not intended for smaller institutions such as credit unions. The framework often does not contemplate the not-for-profit cooperative structure.
This is important because the incentives of each institution are quite different. Credit unions are inherently less risky and do not need the sophistication of regulation that the large banks require.
Therefore, many of the regulations adopted for large banks are not appropriate or necessary for smaller, domestic credit unions.
World Council of Credit Unions is the only trade association advocating on behalf of credit unions in front of key international standard setting bodies, including the:
World Council's International Advocacy work has succeeded in reducing regulatory burdens for credit unions in the areas of prudential regulation, anti-money laundering, taxation and accounting standards.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2025 revised its guidance on key anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) issues to include language WOCCU advocated for that encourages national governments and regulators take the appropriate steps to identify where AML/CFT regulations can be proportionally tailored for lower-risk institutions such as credit unions.
WOCCU successfully influenced the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to emphasize that a proportional approach to supervision be clearly communicated with national-level supervisory authorities to prevent credit unions from facing unfair regulatory burden in key areas such as operational resilience and stress testing.
WOCCU successfully advocated for the G20 Brazilian Presidency to include language in its Leaders Declaration that emphasizes the importance of financial inclusion in improving financial well-being and harnessing digital technologies to reduce inequalities.
