If there is one thing 2025 has taught everyone, the only thing we can expect with certainty moving forward is more of the unexpected.
And it’s a lesson we have taken to heart at World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).
Whether it has been the transformation of national government agencies and regulations, or countries withdrawing from internationally recognized standards, this year has proven that responsive advocacy work is not sufficient if we are going to protect credit unions from abrupt changes that saddle them with compliance burdens and keep them from serving their members and local communities in the best ways possible. Proactive advocacy—leading on issues that are critical to the mission and operations of credit unions—is imperative to protect the global credit union system.
Traditionally, WOCCU has focused its advocacy efforts on responding to regulatory and policy initiatives from international standard setting bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for AML/CFT standards, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on capital requirements, as well as policymaking bodies such as the G20 or the European Union. We have achieved several important successes over the years to ensure that standards and requirements encompass a standard of proportionality that must be implemented at the national level to account for the unique position of credit unions in the financial services sector. We will continue that important work as seen through our recent comment letters to FATF and our meetings with EU officials in Brussels.
But there has never been a more important time for an increased focus on advocacy and a proactive approach. For WOCCU, this means proactively demonstrating thought leadership on key issues that can shape and inform the future of international standards before they are proposed. We must demonstrate that we can be a trusted partner to these organizations to have influence in the policy formation process. We can only do this, however, if we are bolder and engaged as a global system in our approach. Whitepapers, position statements and other thought pieces on issues that concern standard setters and policymakers will help inform policies before they are written. This also involves the participation and engagement of our global credit union network, bringing together credit union systems both virtually and in-person for more frequent engagement focused on policy and advocacy.
We have already begun this work. In May, we called on the G20 2025 South African Presidency to take action in its Leaders’ Declaration by recognizing cooperatives as essential institutions in the global effort to advance financial inclusion. We also welcomed credit union system leaders from across Latin American to Panama last month for a WOCCU-led forum on innovation that included a presentation on the impact international standards have on national laws and policy—with a specific focus on the regulations related to sustainability and the influence of geopolitical changes worldwide.
The upcoming 2025 World Credit Union Conference will have more policy and advocacy sessions than ever before, with seven breakout sessions, plus mainstage highlights focused on policy and regulations. As credit unions and policymakers worldwide gather in Stockholm, Sweden, July 14-16, advocacy will be at the forefront.
Throughout the rest of this year, you can expect to see WOCCU becoming more and more of a thought leader—laying the foundation for us to proactively reach out to the various international standard setting bodies on a host of issues that we both expect and think they should take action on to help credit unions and other financial cooperatives thrive.
As we refine our policy positions as an industry, we must work together to advocate for an enabling regulatory environment for credit unions. This has never been more important because if we want a seat at the table tomorrow, we must help shape the agenda today.
