MI earns prestigious accreditation for five years
(Nov. 25, 2020) The office of credit unions of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services has earned a five-year accreditation following an in-depth review and assessment by a panel of veteran credit union state supervisors, sponsored by the NASCUS.
The accreditation for the credit union office of the Michigan DIFS resulted from a robust process that includes disciplined self-evaluation, peer review and ongoing monitoring. The process is administered by the NASCUS Performance Standards Committee (PSC) and measures a state regulatory agency’s ability and resources to effectively carry out its regulatory and supervisory programs.
To earn accreditation, a credit union state supervisory agency must demonstrate that it meets accreditation standards in agency administration and finance, personnel and training, examination, supervision and legislative powers.
“Accreditation is credible evidence of an agency’s capabilities, which also benefits credit unions in the state as well,” said NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito. “It provides recognition of the professionalism of a state agency’s regulators, supervisors and staff, and may also deliver the impetus and support for legislation that modifies and/or modernizes state law.
She said the achievement also benefits state-chartered credit unions, as it illustrates how a state regulatory agency has met the highest levels of regulatory proficiency,” she added.
More than 85% of state-chartered credit union assets are supervised by NASCUS’ 28 accredited state agencies. The NASCUS Accreditation Program was adopted in 1989 to administer and assure the quality standards of states’ credit union examination and supervision. Modeled on the university accreditation concept, the program applies national standards of performance to a state’s credit union regulatory program.