Protecting the Credit Union and Cooperative Model in a Year of Uncertainty

Erin O’Hern

With a vast amount of regulatory uncertainty resulting from an unprecedented number of newly elected officials across the globe and an International Year of Cooperatives’ mission to fulfill—2025 will be a critical year for credit union advocacy worldwide.
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That is the overriding theme of World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2025 Global Regulatory Update, which stresses how divergent messages relating to whether previously held financial laws will be honored or revoked, and how global leaders embrace or reject international standards will impact the regulatory landscape this year and beyond. 

“For credit unions, this means remaining vigilant in protecting our cooperative structure and the regulatory oversight that is specific to our model. Establishing appropriate regulations that enable credit unions to support financial access and foster economic growth has never been more important,” said Erin O’Hern, WOCCU’s International Advocacy and Regulatory Counsel, who authored the report. “The United Nations (UN) declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, an honor that highlights the critical impact the cooperative model plays in addressing global challenges and provides an opportunity to bring greater awareness to the impact credit unions and other financial cooperatives have worldwide. We must embrace this moment.”

World Council’s Global Regulatory Update is put out on an annual basis to help credit unions and financial cooperatives prepare for the compliance issues most likely to impact them in the year ahead. The new edition also covers several other leading regulatory issues affecting credit unions across the globe, including:

• Digitalization and Developing Technologies.
• Climate-related Financial Risks.
• Strengthening Individual Frameworks.

You can read World Council’s 2025 Global Regulatory Update in its entirety by clicking here.

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