SAN JUAN, P.R.– Inclusiv said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the Corporation for the Supervision and Insurance of Financial Cooperatives (COSSEC), Puerto Rico’s regulator for financial cooperatives.
The agreement establishes a legal framework that will “allow for the exchange of financial information between the agencies, streamlining the due diligence process for the disbursement of technical and financial assistance grant funding,” the organization said.
Ratified at Meeting
The document was ratified by COSSEC at a signing ceremony in San Juan held during the Annual Assembly of the Asociación de Ejecutivos de Cooperativas (ASEC), the island's principal financial cooperative membership organization.
Pablo DeFilippi, SVP of membership and network engagement for Inclusiv, said the agreement represented a milestone for the growing CDFI sector in the island.
“Inclusiv is proud to have played a role in this development by facilitating communications between both agencies,” DeFilippi said. “This accomplishment highlights the importance of the strategic partnership between Inclusiv and ASEC. We reaffirm our commitment to continue promoting the CDFI business model and the CDFI accreditation in Puerto Rico as tools to build the capacity of the sector so that it can more effectively contribute to a more equitable and resilient rebuilding of local economies throughout the island.”
Expanded Services
José Julian Ramírez, executive director of ASEC, said the agreement would help streamline the CDFI certification and application processes for financial cooperatives, for the benefit of vulnerable communities in the island.
“We are convinced that this agreement between COSSEC and the CDFI Fund will streamline the CDFI certification related processes for our local cooperatives,” said Ramírez. “This will allow them to access funding to expand the services they provide for Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities.”
COSSEC regulates a community owned system of over 114 financial cooperatives that has been operating in the island for more than 50 years. The local system has $9.4 billion in assets and serves more than one-million members in vulnerable communities. Financial cooperatives have the largest branch footprint on the island, with a critical presence in rural communities, according to Inclusiv, which is the former National Federation of CDCUs.
Part of Broader Initiative
Collaboration between the CDFI Fund, COSSEC, ASEC and other federal, state agencies and nonprofit organizations is an integral part of Inclusiv’s Puerto Rico CDFI Initiative. The project seeks to leverage the historic role financial cooperatives have played in promoting financial inclusion, as well as to boost their capacity to engage in community development and economic revitalization projects to strengthen vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico, according to the organization.