ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota credit union representativesparticipated in a working session on Nov. 3 with the offices ofSen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Congressman Mark Kennedy (R-6thDistrict) to address the impact of the Bank Secrecy Act on moneyservice business.

The main focus of the meeting was to facilitate a dialogue amongnew American communities, state and federal regulators, and thefinancial services industry regarding BSA compliance, MSBs andinternational wire transfers.

Representatives from NCUA, Minnesota Department of Commerce,FDIC, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, OCC, the FederalReserve, and Minnesota banks and mutual savings banks were alsopresent at the session. Community leaders from around Minnesotaalso were in attendance, representing various Somali, Ethiopian andSouth American communities. One of the concerns among all involvedis that strict regulations have the potential to put a halt to thewiring of money between Minnesota and Somalia. According to theWorld Bank, Somalia receives one-sixth of its annual per capitaincome via remittance.

"The extreme due diligence that is currently required can be anoverwhelming burden to financial institutions, in some casesforcing them to act as de facto regulators of the money servicebusinesses," said Dana Hofmann-Geye, executive vice president andgeneral counsel of the Minnesota Credit Union Network, in referenceto wire transfer compliance. "We are very encouraged by theinterest of Senator Coleman and Representative Kennedy in workingwith us and others to address this issue with the regulators."

In addition to Hofmann-Geye, credit union attendees includedBill Raker, president/CEO of US Federal Credit Union, and MaryDoyle, CFO and vice president of Information Systems at City-CountyFederal Credit Union.