Keep calm and follow the rules
It has been a few years since I practiced law formally. I use my law degree, however, on a daily basis.
There’s a great deal of misinformation about the legal system, and people will use that confusion to take advantage of others.
“I’ll sue you!”
“If you do this, you won’t be sued.”
“Do this, or you’ll hear from my lawyer!”
The threat of some unknown legal action can be intimidating. Having gone through law school, though, I gained a better sense of when true legal risks were present. Also, I learned that few issues were black and white. Most were a balancing act of risk management.
And so it is for credit union compliance. I think every credit union executive would benefit from a compliance crash course at some point in their career.
There are rules that govern virtually every aspect of our business. The more you understand those rules, the better you’ll be at playing the game.
- Third parties will often tell you to do this or that because of a law or regulation. Knowing the rules puts you in the driver’s seat.
- It isn’t hard to find many compliance answers, if you know where to look. Even understanding how the rules are organized is a huge help.
- Compliance scares many. Use this to your advantage. Lean into the area where many shy away.
There are a number of places you can get a crash course in compliance – NAFCU certainly isn’t the only provider. But I do hope you’ll consider 2016 the year to master the rules. I’ve spoken to a number of credit union leaders who have, and I have yet to find one who wasn’t happy after they took the plunge.
