About CUCC

 
logo-e1410946745934The Irish League of Credit Unions established the Credit Union Compliance Centre (CUCC) as a central compliance and risk management point of contact for credit unions.

It is now an expectation of financial services regulators that each credit union has effective and embedded risk and compliance functions. The board of directors will depend on these functions to provide integrated assurance that the credit union is operating in a compliant and prudent manner.

The CUCC works to assist credit unions in fostering a strong organisational culture in the area of risk management and compliance.

About Compliance

 

As compliance is an ever increasing area of priority within the financial services sector; the CUCC Compliance Advisory Service is a compliance community whose mission is to provide a support network and compliance-specific resources to individuals involved in credit union compliance.

The advisory service is provided by a team that has significant expertise in areas of compliance. More importantly, the team has extensive experience of working with credit union officers and voluntary assistants. It is this unique blend of expertise and credit union know-how that ensures the guidance and support provided to credit unions are professional, tailored and practical.

The CUCC Compliance Advisory Service provides all the supports necessary to embed an effective compliance programme within a credit union.

 

Compliance Programme Components CUCC Supports
A Compliance Plan
  • Compliance plan guidance
A Compliance Policy
  •  Compliance policy guidance
Clearly documented roles and reporting lines
  • Governance structure policy guidance
  • Compliance reporting guidance
  • Sample terms of reference and role descriptions
A well-resourced and knowledgeable
compliance officer
  • Regional working groups
  • Annual conference
  • Monthly compliance updates
  • Weekly compliance digests
Robust compliance reviews
  • Comprehensive compliance working papers
  • Annual Compliance Monitoring Programme (CMP)
  • Detailed CMP guidance issued monthly
Accurate reporting to the Regulator(s)
  • Annual Compliance Statement guidance (ROI)
Buy-in from all officers
  • Legislation and regulation library
  • On-going professional advice and support
  • Webinars with subject matter experts
  • Quick guides for key credit union roles

 

 

REGIONAL WORKING GROUPS

As this is a centre for compliance professionals, the guidance and
support is not just one way: the compliance function and other
senior officers within a credit union have the opportunity to share
knowledge and best practice with each other; and with neighbouring
credit unions. This is facilitated through regional working groups in
both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

DEDICATED WEBSITE

A dedicated website www.cucc.ie is available to all credit unions.
These online resources include relevant regulation and legislation,
compliance guidance, updates and briefing documents.

ONGOING ADVICE AND SUPPORT

Credit unions receive on-going phone and email support and
guidance on regulatory matters. The main point of contact in each
credit union is the compliance officer (or equivalent in Northern
Ireland); however other officers such as directors and management
may also avail of the service.

COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE

In addition to the extensive guidance and support, from April
2017 credit unions also have access to credit union-specific
compliance management software. This software enables credit
unions to track, analyse and report on their compliance requirements
and breaches in line with regulatory requirements. In addition to
this, the software enables the credit union to produce a set of
reports to support the credit unions in its ongoing management of its
compliance risks.

ANALYSIS OF COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS

From years of working directly with compliance officers, the CUCC
recognises that these professionals must prioritise their time in order
to deliver for their credit union. As such, complex legal and regulatory
requirements are analysed and distilled down to key compliance
requirements which can then be acted upon by the credit union.
This analysis is delivered through monthly updates and guidance sent
directly to the key contacts within each credit union.

 

 

 

The CUCC has developed its business model to enable it to provide more supports to a wider number of credit unions. Each subscribing credit union pays an annual subscription to avail of the compliance and/or risk advisory services.

Please contact CUCC for details on 01-6146711

 

 

1. Does the service provided replace what our Compliance Officer
currently does?

The CUCC service does not supplant the requirement to appoint
a compliance officer / function. The CUCC is a compliance
community whose mission to provide a support network with
compliance-specific resources to individuals involved in these
roles / functions. This in turn enables effective discharge of
prescribed functions under the legislation.

2. Compliance with the Act and Rulebook/CREDS is now well
embedded in our credit union so what can the CUCC offer to
assist with compliance with other legislation coming down the line?

The compliance universe is now much wider than core legislation
and regulatory rulebooks. The CUCC team carries out ongoing
monitoring of the regulatory and legal environment in order to
anticipate upcoming provisions and the ensuing compliance and
risk requirements for credit unions. The CUCC team is trained in
specialist areas beyond the parameters of the Act and Rulebook/
CREDS such as data protection, financial crime prevention and IT
governance and provide ongoing advice and guidance on these
areas.

3. We currently outsource our risk and compliance, what does this
mean for us?

The Compliance Advisory Service does not replace the key role of
the compliance officer within credit unions – it is to support these
professionals in their role. The CUCC already works very well
with a number of consultants working in credit unions, and will
continue to do so.

4. We currently have our own risk and compliance software, what
does this mean for us?

The Compliance Advisory Service will give access to an excellent
compliance software package at no extra cost. However, this
is just one small part of an extensive range of support services
offered by the CUCC. If your credit union wishes to remain using
another software package, it will still benefit from all of these
other supports.