The Minnesota Credit Union Network in St. Paul recently hosted acredit union delegation from Paraguay that wanted to gain insightsfrom credit union operations, as well as the state and federalregulatory system as that nation begins to reform its cooperativelaws.

The delegation included representatives from the Central deCooperativas del Area Nacional Ltda., Paraguay's credit unionassociation.

In a meeting at the MnCUN office, the delegation spoke withMinnesota Department of Commerce Credit Union Chief Examiner CarlSchwartz and NCUA Regional Examiner Justin Burleson.

The Paraguayans asked regulators questions about the examprocess, how they identify and resolve problems, the CAMEL creditunion rating system, and how the U.S. regulatory system isstructured and supported.

“In Paraguay the regulatory structure is different. The largestcredit unions receive most of the regulatory oversight; most of thefunding from the government goes to regulate them. The small creditunions receive less oversight,” said Enrique Ojeda, a CENCOPANboard member and board chair of COFAN, a $20 million credit unionthat serves a police department.

Other challenges delegation members mentioned included a lack ofa deposit insurance fund for credit unions in Paraguay, the fasterpace of growth for credit unions in the country compared to itsregulatory system, and the lack of full monetary support from thefederal government to regulators.

The Paraguay representatives also visited several credit unions,including $867 million Hiway FCU in St. Paul, $116 million St. PaulFCU in St. Paul, $236 million SouthPoint FCU in New Ulm, and $888million US Federal in Burnsville.

The credit unions presented information about their technologydevelopments and the movement to mobile products, operationalefficiencies, collections practices and regulation management.

This international visit was part of an ongoing exchange betweenCENCOPAN and MnCUN that was established in 2004 through the WorldCouncil of Credit Unions.

“We want to ensure that this partnership continues to bebeneficial to CENCOPAN and Paraguayan credit unions, as well as toMnCUN and the credit unions we represent,” said MnCUNPresident/CEO Mark Cummins. “I look forward to future exchanges inwhich we are able to coordinate focused visits to dig deeper intotopics and help Paraguay's credit unions make headway in specificareas. Our goal is to structure our time together to be asbeneficial as possible.”