The National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO) and the Bank Insurance & Securities Association (BISA) have conducted joint discussion. Held during the BISA annual conference at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa here, members of the NACUSO Financial Advisory Board met with BISA professionals and credit union attendees of the BISA conference to discuss shared issues and seek mutual solutions. The BISA Annual Conference drew 586 attendees, forty of which represented some 30 credit unions or CUSOs (some of which are broker/dealers).
The discussion was facilitated by Financial Services Advisory Board liaison Pete Snyder and NACUSO's interim COO, Judy Sandberg, who is also VP-strategic direction for Gateway Services Group, LLC. "This was a lively discussion among peers," said Snyder. "Nothing was off the table and we talked openly and directly about topics such as performance metrics, creating benchmarks for investment programs, how to cut expenses at budget time, recruiting and retention and the overall regulatory environment."
"One area where BISA and NACUSO will work together well is in the legal/regulatory area," said Sandberg. "They clearly have longstanding expertise there, and NACUSO General Counsel Guy Messick brings the credit union expertise, so we can effectively address a challenge to the exempt status of sales reps, for example."
The subject of how to fully integrate an investment program that previously resided within a CUSO into the credit union proper also elicited an animated discussion.
