WASHINGTON — NCUA's upcoming symposium celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Federal Credit Union Act will be more about getting past the here and now than looking back on past laurels.
"The intention is for this to be a forward-looking dialogue," said NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland, who is spearheading the symposium. "Yes, we're celebrating the past, but we also see how credit unions are shifting around and what is happening going forward."
When the symposium was first announced in June 2008, issues such as the conservatorships and the mortgage meltdown weren't even on the radar screen, but are now expected to be top-line discussions at the event.
"We have been in crisis mode since really August of last year," Hyland related. "The symposium will give us a chance to take advantage of a good crisis and really explore what this means to the future of the movement."
Hyland said she expects a "full circle" discussion, which will include people from outside CUs, to delve into the relevance of the cooperative model in the future. "What this crisis has done is it has brought to a head many issues that have been bubbling for years," she observed, including supplemental capital, collaboration and alternative charters-all of which are on tap at the symposium.
"Because we have been in crisis mode, people are very focused on the here and now, and just working to get through this," Hyland suggested. "But now is the time to be looking to the future, to see how we want to come out of this. We are not endorsing any particular idea, product or service; this is just to get the ideas on the table. The goal isn't to have a a to-do list at the end of the symposium, but my commitment is to take those ideas [related to regulation or requiring NCUA action] back to the board."
"What some of the people we have invited to speak are going to say may make people mad. It's going to be thought provoking," she noted. "The folks from Cornerstone Advisors, for example, are going to point out that some aspects of the cooperative model simply don't work."
The idea isn't to tear apart the cooperative movement, Hyland said.
"My goal is to have people walk away with a sense of how to move toward that future," she said.
WHAT: NCUA Symposium on 75th Anniversary of FCU Act
WHEN & WHERE: June 9-10, Hyatt Regency Washington
WHO: Speakers include Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) as keynoter; Dorian Stone of McKinsey & Co. Scott Sommer of Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. and Mark Meyer of the Filene Research Institute on "Is The Cooperative Financial System Still Relevant?"; and Susan Murray of Desjardins, Charles E. Snyder of National Cooperative Bank and the World Council's Pete Crear on "Other Financial Services Models." John Hope Bryant of Operation Hope, who serves on the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. A discussion of "The Future of the Corporate Credit Union System" facilitated by Bob Hoel, former executive director of Filene.
HOW: To get more info,
