Rancho Cucomonga, Calif. — The California CU League reached an agreement with a subsidiary of the Texas CU League to provide compliance and audit resources to California and Nevada credit unions.
The CCUL said the agreement with TCUL's Credit Union Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, will give CUs in the Golden and Silver States access to numerous financial and technology resources. The result of the partnership: CUs will have assistance in making sure their operations are in compliance, the two parties said.
Among the resources available will be the Credit Union Resources' "Shared Compliance Initiative," which will allow credit unions to outsource their compliance needs. A compliance officer can come to a credit union and review its policies and procedures, including those related to the Bank Secrecy Act, for compliance.
The frequency of these visits is determined based on size, complexity, need and affordability. Fees for the services may be shared between credit unions. For example, if a small credit union needs these services, it can split fees with another credit union. The Shared Compliance Initiative began in March 2006, and now has more than 30 credit unions as clients.
The CCUL joins the leagues from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming in contracting with Credit Union Resources.
Sylvia Fath, the CCUL's vice president of business services, told Credit Union Journal the CCUL outsources many aspects. "Our core competency is business development, but we outsource programs. It is the best way to leverage strength, not reinvent the wheel and not spend all our capital."
The agreement with TCUL is yet another example of cooperation and collaboration among leagues, Fath continued.
"This is not the first league we've collaborated with — we partner with the New Mexico League's CU Succeed, the Sprint-Nextel agreement with the Michigan League, plus many collaborations with the leagues here in the West," she said. "Cooperation among leagues is about leveraging our strengths. We have to, because we as leagues recognize our strengths and must acknowledge our weaknesses."
According to Fath, the real value of the partnership with Credit Union Resources is the splitting of audit expense among multiple CUs, especially small credit unions.
Under terms of the agreement, Credit Union Resources will provide CUs with additional financial and technology resources, including: supervisory committee annual reviews; verification of member accounts; special services such as bank reconciliation; technology consulting services, such as risk assessment, policy development, and monthly system maintenance; technology auditing services; and disaster recovery/business continuity.
"We're looking forward to working with the league and its member credit unions in California and Nevada to help them in the arena of compliance and auditing," Chad Stanislav, vice president of financial and technology resources at Credit Union Resources, said in a statement. "Our goal is to provide them with the quality programs and services our other clients are currently receiving."
For more than 40 years, Credit Union Resources has offered a portfolio of financial services, compliance initiatives and technology tools to provide accounting services, regulatory guidance, and safeguard members' data.
(c) 2007
