BASEL, Switzerland —The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), together with representatives from Australia, Canada, Poland, and the United States, made a sweep through three countries to visit with key International Standard Setting Bodies. The group also visited key influential European regulatory bodies to urge support for the credit union cooperative model, noting the important role that it plays in accomplishing financial inclusion around the world. WOCCU has been active with the G20 urging further direction to the international standard setting bodies to work more closely with national-level regulators on proportionality, which allows for proper tailoring of rules to maximize the benefit of the cooperative model in serving rural, underserved, and marginalized communities. International standards are often intended to apply to large, internationally active banks. Failure to allow for smaller, less complex financial institutions can lead to a lack of diversity in the marketp
A year marked by COVID-specific regulations still included victories for credit unions
January 07, 2021
WASHINGTON World Council of Credit Unions continued in 2020 to successfully advocate before international standard setting bodies on behalf of the global financial cooperative movement. Here are World Council’s Top 10 International Advocacy Success Stories of the year.
1. Basel AML/CFT Guidance includes World Council Recommendations on Proportionality/Financial Inclusion
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued an updated version of its guidelines on
, with guides on the interaction and cooperation between prudential, and anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervisors. The issuance specifically included World Council-recommended language stating that AML/CFT burdens should be proportional and risk-based, informed by banks’ own risk assessment of ML/FT risks. Further, with respect to member/customer due diligence, the gu