Three Deep Sea Tips for Staying on Top of Regulation Growth in 2013

Credit union regulatory compliance is like deep sea fishing.

Bear with us on this one. Each new regulation or law update is another fish, swimming around in the vast waters of the compliance environment. It’s up to you to know where to find them, use nets that won’t let any slip by, and prepare them to be served into your credit union’s operations.

Still not buying it? For now, we can agree on the worth of an airtight compliance strategy. A single law update, if allowed to go unnoticed or improperly handled, could inflict tedious or damaging results on a credit union. The 2013 credit union regulatory environment will move at a faster pace than ever, so how can credit unions start sealing up the holes in their nets and building a strategy around compliance awareness?

Consolidate your compliance resources. Don’t allow yourself to become spread between too many sources of information in your attempts to stay on top of compliance. A few large nets have far fewer gaps than many smaller ones. There are tools and systems designed to update you on the details you don’t know and make readily available those that you do, so keep compliance in check by making use of the comprehensive compliance-dedicated resources available to credit unions.

Here are three big-picture tips for hauling in the perfect catch with the resources available:

• Assemble an able crew: Alone, you could float out to sea on a row boat and try your luck with bait and tackle, but you wouldn’t return to shore with much to show for it. Any true fishing vessel is manned by an able-bodied, experienced crew, just as a successful credit union compliance operation requires an organization of knowledgeable team members. As regulatory compliance grows more rigorous,       it becomes imperative that credit union professionals know how to react to regulatory changes and updates by building a foundation of core compliance proficiencies as well as a basic understanding of today’s regulatory environment.
  For that, they need a mentor. CUNA CPDOnline is a web-based training service consisting of an intuitive learning management system and a curriculum of professionally-designed courses and exams. By participating in compliance training, your credit union’s staff will build confidence and   cultivate the compliance proficiencies demanded of them. In short, you’ll have your crew.

• Use the best nets available: All the know-how in the Seven Seas won’t even snare you a minnow if you don’t have the right equipment for the job. Warped, broken nets with holes in them will only serve to let your catch slip by, just as compliance professionals all too often let an addendum or adjustment slip by unnoticed. If regulation isn’t going to stop rapidly changing, then it falls to compliance professionals to keep up with it.
  Are there nets available that won’t let any new regulations or law updates get by, big or small? First, CUNA RegTraC provides real-time updates on all changes in regulatory law as well as detailed reference material on existing compliance regulation. This awareness tool guarantees that its users have access to any relevant modifications made in the regulatory environment. Then, covering the individual topics outside your main catch, CUNA’s Comp Blog provides daily posts on what’s new in compliance and the popular topics that compliance professionals are talking about, ensuring that your nets will be brimming when you hoist them up.
  

• Prepare your catch: So, you’ve pulled in today’s catch. Now what?
  Raw fish aren’t of much use to anyone, just as a regulatory update won’t keep your credit union compliant unless properly reacted to and implemented. Interface with other compliance people and enroll in up-to-date courses to enable yourself to take part in discussions on pressing topics and tap into networks that will bring you crucial compliance prowess.
  Encompassing a bit more than a cooking class, CUNA Training Bundle grants a credit union unlimited access to CUNA’s full selection of webinars, eSchools and audio conferences to keep compliance professionals connected to the regulatory environment they’re a part of. With a full archive of recorded training and updates, as well as access to any new material as it becomes available, we’d feel more comfortable calling it a culinary institute.

Following these three tips, your credit union will feel confident about catching and processing changes in regulation. Through a sound action plan and these constantly growing resources with continuously updated content, each available at a fixed price, credit union compliance will no longer feel like rocky waters.

Still not onboard with the fishing comparison? Oh well, we trout.

More details on CUNA CPDOnline, CUNA Training Bundle, CUNA RegTraC and CUNA Comp Blog can be found at cuna.org/gamechange.

About CUNA
With its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) serves 90 percent of America’s 7,200 state and federally chartered credit unions, which are owned by more than 96 million consumer members. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives providing affordable financial services to people from all walks of life.  For more information about CUNA, visit www.cuna.org or the CUNAverse blog and follow @CUNAverse on Twitter.  For more information about credit unions, visit www.aSmarterChoice.org and follow @asmarterchoice on Twitter.