CHICAGO–NCUA and the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) co-hosted the 2019 International Credit Union Regulators' Network (ICURN) Annual Conference and General Meeting here. The conference was attended by over 60 regulators representing 19 countries in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Caribbean, Europe and North America. Topics included regulation and supervision of financial cooperatives, cyber-security, open banking and SupTech. To expand the global reach of ICURN scholarships were offered for the first time, with support of NASCUS, to regulators from Barbados and Uganda.
Dave Grace, Executive Director of ICURN, indicated that “despite the huge diversity of our members from developed and developing economies on six continents we see remarkable similarities in the challenges they face. Our regional trainings and certification of credit union supervisors, peer reviews among regulatory authorities, guidelines on effective supervision of financial cooperatives and global conference are helping regulators address these issues.”
At the ICURN annual general meeting two new board members joined the existing board chaired by Elaine Byrne from the Central Bank of Ireland. Vernon MacNeill, CEO of the Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Manitoba, Canada was appointed as Treasurer, and Tim Wiles, CEO of the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of Alberta, Canada stepped down from the ICURN board. Diane Gongora, Manager at the Central Bank of Belize, has joined the board as the new representative of the Latin American/Caribbean region, replacing Carlos Foncerrada, from the National Banking and Securities Commission of Mexico.
In addition, Lily Vadera, Executive Director at the Reserve Bank of India, has been appointed as the Asia/Pacific representative on the ICURN Steering Committee. Other board members include: Lucy Ito, President/CEO of the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors, and John Mwaka, CEO of SACCO Societies Regulatory Authority in Kenya. Chairperson Elaine Byrne, thanked the departing members of the board for their service and warmly welcomed the new board and steering committee members.
Next year the ICURN Conference will take place in Montreal, Canada on July 22-24, 2020.