For the second time, the World Council of Credit Unions is asking for input to present to a global authority.
WOCCU announced today that its member organizations wishing to comment on proposed Basel II Accord revisions should e-mail their responses to Vice President of Association Services David Grace (dgrace@woccu.org) by April 2. The organization said it will continue to work with the Basel Committee as it completes impact assessments and finalizes the standard by year-end.
"This is the first time the Basel Committee has recognized that financial cooperatives are different," Grace said. "We want to make sure these and other standards that enable credit unions to better serve their members appear in the final version."
The new guidelines recommend a higher capital standard that promotes long-term stability and sustainable growth. In particular, the Basel committee proposes that Tier 1 capital be defined as common shares and retained earnings, and tailored accordingly for credit unions' structure. Adequate capital buffers at individual institutions are also being proposed to increase stability.
In April 2009, Grace and WOCCU President/CEO Pete Crear met with Basel Committee Chairman Nout Wellink to make the case that credit unions should not be penalized by tougher capital requirements than those faced by larger, riskier institutions.
