The World Council of Credit Unions (World Council) urged the G20 to continue its commitment to financial inclusion and its objective reduce inequalities and promote inclusive growth.   Specifically, World Council asked the G20 to direct the international standard setting bodes to work closely with national-level regulators to fully adopt proportional tailoring of regulations for the purposes of advancing financial inclusion.

National-level regulators are often reticent to tailor international norms and standards for fear that a deviation may subject them to criticism from other nations or fear of an unintended consequence as a result of right-sizing regulations.  The result is that credit unions are often prevented from serving underserved or marginalized populations, thus leading to financial exclusion.

The collective international credit union movement is urging the G20 to take action to enhance its embrace of financial inclusion and work with the many challenges faced by national-level regulators in achieving financial inclusion vis-à-vis proportionality.  Proportionality, if applied appropriately, can significantly advance the G20’s goals of promoting financial inclusion by fostering responsible finance through increased access to responsible and affordable financial services.

The G20 this year is headed by the Presidency in Bali, Indonesia with a Leaders’ Declaration expected to be issued at the 2022 G20 Bali Summit in November. 

 A copy of the letter can be viewed here.