Amy K - Sailing Away

​A fond farewell from our colleague, friend, and pirate aficionado as she begins her new credit union career. An impressive 14 years, “by the numbers.” 

by Amy Kleinschmit

My final compliance update for DakCU – after 14 years. I couldn’t decide whether to do a “normal” compliance update, disregard the fact it was my last, and just talk about “compliancy stuff” like rules and regulations (you know, the fun things), or should I do a quirky spin on compliance? I also contemplated writing the entire article in pirate-speak. (If you have been to a BSA training with me, then you know. If you haven’t, then seriously, where have you been?)

Then, Shawn had the great suggestion of doing a recap “by the numbers” of the past 14 years to see what all that “compliancing” looks like. So, here it goes – DakCU compliance department – by the numbers.

5,383 – The number of people that joined me for BSA training (includes those virtual training sessions that started during Covid). More importantly, the number of people that learned useless pirate trivia during BSA training – except for that one year when I didn’t have a pirate question. Lesson learned – always include pirate trivia when doing BSA training. I won’t make that mistake again.

Fun fact – the first pirate trivia question from 2009 that started it all was “what day and month is International Talk Like a Pirate Day?” If you want the full recap of 14 years of pirate trivia you can find that here.

1,249 – compliance articles. Remember when there used to be two compliance articles each week? That was a lot of compliance for one day. And yes, my compliance articles were never really that brief, sorry. But as you are well aware, there is never a shortage of compliance topics – from new rules, proposed rules, new “guidance” from our regulatory friends, and then review of the old stuff to make sure nothing was being missed or forgotten about. Never a dull moment while compliancing. (Also - totally think this needs to be a verb, what else would it be called?)

209 – the number of Bank Secrecy Act independent reviews completed in North and South Dakota credit unions.

132 – the number of comment letters submitted on behalf of Dakota Credit Unions which regulatory agencies including NCUA, CFPB, FinCEN, Federal Reserve Board, and Department of Labor – just to highlight a few.

7,500 – Approximate number of compliance questions since 2011. And yes, it was completely out of my ability to provide a simple yes/no response which I know some of you would have preferred. But I was compelled to copy/paste the rule/regulation so you had it for future reference.

95,474 – Miles driven since 2016 (so only half the time I have been here, but you can probably extrapolate close to the actual total). However, this number just doesn’t represent windshield time, talk shows listened to (forensic files), or number of road-kills (only two birds that I can recall - surprisingly). This number represents the many times I was able to meet all the wonderful people that make up Dakota credit unions and learn more about you – having those personal connections is what I will remember most of those road trips. Sure we had the obligatory compliance dialogue, but my takeaway was learning about the amazing people and the diverse backgrounds of the people that work and/or volunteer with Dakota credit unions. Stories from the North Dakota volunteer who trekked on the El Camino de Santiago in Spain, or learning about all the many hidden talents of credit union professionals – painting, playing guitar, acting in local films and local community theater. Without this opportunity to come sit with you at the chapter meeting or visit you in your credit union, I would not have been able to swap stories of our kids growing up, hear the proud stories of new grandparents, and share pictures of our favorite pets. Thank you for sharing stories of your recent vacations and giving me things that I need to put on my travel bucket list – and helpful travel tips - the flying pig outfitter is amazing to work with.
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Thank you all for allowing me to “geek out” a little on compliance. Thank you for enabling my geeky-ness with temporary “I love compliance” tattoos. Also, thank you for not killing the messenger when there was a regulatory change – of which there were many. Thank you for helping me learn how to do my job better through your feedback and guidance. Thank you for being the amazing people you are and I look forward to when our paths cross again. 

Finally, thank you to the amazing staff at DakCU. We worked hard, we had fun – I appreciate each of you.
To conclude on a fun note, a song about compliance.

As you may recall, earlier this year I explored how AI could potentially impact the compliance officer’s job at the credit union, asking one of the AI applications, in this case ChatGPT, various compliance questions and also asking it to attempt completion of a common compliance officer role - summarize a newly proposed rule. Then I followed up with ChatGPT in a subsequent article. Just a reminder on the “fun” side of compliance -

          Verse 1: You might think it's mundane, But to me, it's all so clear.
          I see the beauty in the rules, And I'm drawn to them, my dear.
 
          Chorus: Compliance, oh compliance, You make my heart beat fast.
          Following the regulations, Is a love that's built to last.
 
          Verse 2: Some may see it as a chore, A burden hard to bear.
          But I see it as a promise, To always do what's fair.
 
          Chorus: Compliance, oh compliance, You make my heart beat fast.
          Following the regulations, Is a love that's built to last.
 
          Bridge: I'll never stray from what's right, My devotion runs so deep.
          I'll follow every guideline, And forever you I'll keep.
 
          Chorus: Compliance, oh compliance, You make my heart beat fast.
          Following the regulations, Is a love that's built to last.
 
          Outro: So let's embrace the regulations, And never let them go.
          Compliance, oh compliance, You're the love that makes me grow.
 
 Amy, as you sail away into the sunset, DakCU wishes you fair winds and following seas, new hearties to run a rig with you, and a full bottle of grog to shiver ye timbers.