The G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration issued November 15-16 in Bali, Indonesia addresses several issues critical to credit unions.  Issues surrounding Financial Inclusion, Sustainable Finance and Climate Change, Payments, Cryptocurrencies, Women and Vulnerable Populations, Anti-Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism, Cybersecurity and others were addressed.  This key document gives direction to the international standard setting bodies (i.e. Basel Committee, IASB, FATF, FSB, etc.) who will focus their workplans on issues addressed in this document. 

This is significant for credit union as it ultimately will shape regulations adopted at the national level for credit unions.  Of importance is the embrace of addressing financial inclusion which supports the risk-based approach and proportionate legal and regulatory frameworks.  This will assist convincing national-level regulators the importance of properly tailoring rules for credit unions so that they can better serve their members.

The continued focus on payments and achieving faster, cheaper, more transparent, more inclusive cross-border payments continues to receive high emphasis from the G20.  Much work is underway that will have a transformative effect on the payments space.

Finally, climate and sustainable finance and how to transform the world, businesses, society, and others to meet climate goals is a major theme throughout the Declaration.  Ultimately, credit unions will play a role in addressing these changes as well as receiving their accompanying share of regulatory burden. 

A summary of all of the provisions as well as their impact on credit unions can be viewed here.