We all know that ignorance is no excuse for failing to obey the law. Yet maintaining razor-sharp knowledge of the rules governing financial services is a fulltime job. To really do it right, credit unions need a person — sometimes many people — to create and follow a calendar of proposed and final rules, train staff on the ins and outs of compliance, and make all the program and operational changes necessary to follow the rules.

But for many credit unions, a staff person to do that fulltime job just isn't viable. Those of us at the league level have witnessed first-hand the struggles faced by credit union executives who want to play by the rules, but aren't entirely confident they know what the rules are.

Where most credit unions and league personnel get stuck isn't necessarily in the reading of the rules. After all, they are generally written in black and white and publicly accessible. Rather, we want to understand exactly how those rules will be interpreted and what steps need to be taken at the credit union to ensure compliance by any number of deadlines.