If I had to pick one trend I'm seeing within my field, it is the struggle facing credit unions as they try to determine how to deliver quality products and services to their membership under the ever increasing cost of regulatory compliance.

At a time when boards and management are making every effort to reduce expenses due to reduced loan demand, increased cost of services and insurance premiums resulting from the corporate crisis, costs associated with regulatory compliance continue to increase. This, in combination with historically low interest rates and investment yields, has stressed bottom lines to the point where credit unions are looking to their corporates to reduce or at least maintain existing fee structures.

This creates challenges for corporates trying to comply with a new regulation that has fundamentally changed the role of a corporate credit union within the system. While many of the changes in corporate regulations are intended to prevent the abuses and unsafe practices that caused the crisis, others greatly reduce the value of a corporate.