By Alan Potter, CCD
At CUES’ Director Risk and Compliance Seminar in Las Vegas in late February, speaker David Reed discussed 10 key ground rules every director should know about compliance.
- Understand your function—that of providing governance and oversight to your credit union.
- Get institutional buy-in to the importance of compliance.
- Get staff plugged into what needs to be done to keep your credit union compliant.
- Stay on top of changes in regulations and their impact on your credit union.
- Know where to look for answers to compliance questions.
- Know with whom to chat about compliance questions. You can find answers to compliance questions from websites such as NCUA and other government agencies, and by attending CUES training seminars, such as this one. Directors can also ask the compliance officer of your credit union and following email updates from trade associations, such as NAFCU and CUNA.
- Know the hot exam topics.
- Know the cost of non-compliance.
- Know the value of training.
- Never ask an examiner a question unless you already know the answer. Ha! Who says leaders of compliance programs never have a sense of humor?
Reed, our speaker, is an attorney, author, consultant, partner in the law firm of Reed and Jolly, and founder of CU Doctor, a full-service credit union consulting practice. He shared these 10 compliance tips with 35 registered attendees from the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua and Barbuda. The credit unions in attendance ranged from $9.1 million to $3.8 billion.
In addition to the compliance ground rules for directors listed above, the seminar covered the board’s responsibilities in the following areas:
- governance,
- enterprise risk management,
- member complaints and resolutions,
- NCUA lending requirements,
- lending regulations,
- vendor management and due diligence,
- real estate lending best practices,
- member business lending,
- loan modifications,
- Bank Secrecy Act,
- fraud and security
- protecting the credit union against loss,
- managing outside counsel, and
- strategic planning.
What every board member could take away from this excellent seminar is this: Management has a role in carrying out the topics listed above, but board members still have to have deep knowledge of the CU’s business to successfully carry out their fiduciary duties.
CUES Director member Alan Potter, CCD, is chairman of $3.4 billion United Nations Federal Credit Union, Long Island City, N.Y. His board is a member of the Center for Credit Union Board Excellence.
CUES’ Director Strategy Seminar is coming up in June in Vancouver, British Columbia.
CUES’ Director Development Seminar is coming up in September in Savannah, Ga.
Learn more about the Center for Credit Union Board Excellence and sign up for a 30-day free trial.
