COSSEC meets with Federal Home Loan Bank in New York officials
The meeting followed a new regulatory interpretation by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that took effect last month.
In a move to streamline eligibility and entry for Puerto Rico’s credit unions into the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY), Mabel Jiménez, CEO of the Public Corporation for the Supervision and Insurance of Cooperatives (Cossec, in Spanish), recently met with senior executives of the institution in New York.
The meeting followed a new regulatory interpretation by the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) that came into force last month.
Jiménez emphasized the development’s significance, saying the change, “the result of intense efforts carried out by Cossec together with Inclusiv and 70 credit unions, opened the doors for cooperatives on the island to apply for membership in the FHLBNY.”
“We continue to work hard to ensure that our credit unions have access to the same tools, resources and federal programs as their counterparts in the continental United States. This access is essential so that they can offer the best possible services to their members and the communities they serve, thus promoting economic development and financial inclusion,” Jiménez added.
The meeting included FHLBNY President José Ramón González and Vice President Alexies Sornoza, along with Cossec board members Carlos M. De Jesús-Sánchez and Miguel Colón-Robles.
“The main goal of this meeting is to coordinate efforts and outline strategies to ensure that Puerto Rico’s credit unions can effectively access the Federal Home Loan Bank system, which will potentially boost access to affordable housing for their partners and the communities they serve,” said Jiménez, who will also participate as a guest panelist at the Inclusiv Annual Conference, which will take place May 7-9 in New York City.
The conference is the largest event dedicated to financial inclusion and community development among credit unions in the United States. It gathers leaders, policymakers, researchers and professionals from the community development cooperative movement.
“In recent years, we have worked together with Inclusiv on several collaboration agreements that have allowed us to expand the capacity and impact of financial institutions to respond to the economic development needs of the partners we serve. During our participation, we will highlight those efforts that have been so important for the sector in Puerto Rico,” Jiménez noted.
