The Maryland & District of Columbia Credit UnionAssociation recently signed a partnership agreement with anewly formed credit union federation in Colombia to help theorganization develop best practices, policies and procedures.

A delegation of Colombian credit union representatives recentlytraveled to Columbia, Md., to sign the partnership agreement withMDDCCUA through the World Council of Credit Unions' InternationalPartnerships Program.

The Colombian delegates represented the board of directors ofthe newly established credit union federation, Federación Nacionalde Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito Financieras, one of the WorldCouncil's newest members.

“We look forward to sharing how the league system in the U.S.can be a framework to expand programs and services to FECOLFIN'smember credit unions in Colombia,” said John Bratsakis, MDDCCUApresident/ CEO.

The creation of FECOLFIN is an important milestone for theColombian credit union movement, according to MDDCUA. Although Columbia has one of the highest rates of cooperativemembership, the FECOFIN was established to give a credit unionvoice for its members before legislators and the government. Thenew federation will also seek to improve collaboration among creditunions in the country.

“Currently, regulations in the country are either inconsistentor lacking detail, and credit unions do not have a seat at thetable during talks about regulatory changes,” explained JaimeChavez, FECOLFIN chairman. “The credit unions in Colombia need tocome together with a unified voice to help tell our story andconvince the regulators that credit unions need to be treateddifferently than banks.”

The first phase of the partnership will focus on providingadvocacy assistance to the Colombian credit union sector throughworkshops for credit unions and visits with government officials.The partnership will also seek to help FECOLFIN develop an array ofeducational and other services relevant to its membership.

MDDCCUA hopes to learn from Colombian credit unions about theneeds of South American immigrants living in the Maryland and D.C.area, as well as service strategies particular to that populationthat can be shared with MDDCCUA member credit unions.

The Columbian delegation also visited three member creditunions: $90 million Montgomery County Employees Federal CreditUnion and $273 million Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union, both ofGermantown, Md., and $195 million PAHO/WHO Federal Credit Union inWashington.

During the credit union visits, delegates focused on learningthe characteristics of a U.S. credit union's balance sheet and theregulatory challenges American credit unions face.

The World Council's International Partnerships Program currentlyfacilitates 19 international partnerships throughout Central andSouth America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.