By Frank J. Diekmann
Globalization.
With the two political conventions taking place and the presidential race going on and on and on, that solitary word is very much the subject of a million more words of serious discussion and laughable blather from left and right. We’ll leave much of what it means to the politicians, who will be the first to tell you they are much smarter than you and I.
But if you want to see globalization from a much more localized and up-close perspective, then you need look no further than the World Council of Credit Unions’ World CU Conference, which wrapped up last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Forget the attendees wearing the colorful garb of their home countries, especially from Africa; it wasn’t very long ago that you needed to look no further than the meeting agenda to know you were at a WOCCU event. There were sessions related to developing countries and emerging economies and even some basic, fundamental board/management issues. No more.
This agenda for this year’s event for all intents and purposes could easily have cut-and-pasted right out of CUNA’s recent America’s Credit Union Conference in Seattle (and portions of the program and the speakers were actually the same). Bringing about this homogenization, or globalization, is the world’s regulatory environment, which has changed significantly since the U.S. financial crisis led much of the planet’s economies into recession, including the host country of Ireland. (Indeed, Mark Degotardi, president and CEO of the Customer Owned Banking Association in Australia, remarked, “We don’t seem to export many regulations. They all seem to come the other way.” Then looking toward CUNA CEO Jim Nussle, he drew some laughs by adding, “Thanks, Jim.”
What's That Trickling?
According to WOCCU and folks I spoke to during the meeting, you have the international version of Dodd-Frank to blame, with the World Council saying the feedback it has gotten from credit unions is their #1 worry/concern is regulation. Dodd-Frank (the sixth anniversary was last week in case you missed the celebration) was supposed to rein in the big banks and the so-called bad actors. Similarly, the Basel Accords were/are intended to bring a stronger, international hand to multinational banking corporations. But in both cases the rules for the big guys have more than trickled down (I’ll leave it to you to define what’s trickling) to the smaller institutions such as credit unions and banks, who, as you may have heard mentioned more often than lawyers advertise for accident victims, “weren’t the reason for the crisis.” The toll has been heavy on small but important institutions all around the globe.
Out of all that came a meeting agenda that was “globalized.” And in some, and I’d actually say many, ways that is too bad.
Just as driving into a postcard Irish village only to be confronted by a garish Burger King bursts the charm in ways no leprechaun can magically salvage, the same can be said of the World Council’s meeting.
One of the great joys of the WOCCU get-together has always been hearing not just different languages but the different stories and perspectives and, most especially, the deep passion that many bring to credit unions in other countries. WOCCU meetings always felt like a step back in time to the days of the U.S. CU pioneers after whom all the awards are named. This year, the only step back in time came at the Titanic Museum in Belfast (which is excellent, by the way), which hosted the meeting’s closing reception.
Still Hopeful
I’m hopeful the World Council and all the credit unions it represents will find a way to reignite a wee bit of that lost charm, that international flavor, that passion, at its future gatherings. If you’re following the talk about globalization in the U.S. then, right or wrong, you know the debate is over whether it’s hurting America or is in our best interests (and it was interesting to be in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as people try to figure out what the Brexit will mean). Again, I’ll leave that debate to others.
But one aspect of globalization on which it has not been a total positive has been the World Council meeting. American credit unions may dominate the attendees, but they have every bit as much—if not more—to learn from others than they have to contribute at these international events. For the U.S. credit unions there is immeasurable value in being reminded of credit union roots, of not arrogantly assuming they know everything, and not believing themselves as unapproachable as the stone castles that can be found throughout Ireland.
After all, when the Titanic sailed out of that Belfast shipyard, it was unsinkable.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info or @FrankCUToday