There is no question that the credit union movement throughout the Caribbean is very strong and the important contributions it makes on the social and economic development in all of its territories is significant. But like any banking institutions there are challenges and presently the credit union movement has been experiencing its share – with the global credit crisis. And with so many banking crises, there is always the question of how secure are my savings? And that’s where the issue of legislation and regulations comes into play. Just like banks, credit unions have to be regulated, and as such the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions in an effort to prevent any crisis has placed regulations and legislation at the top of their agenda. Their first meeting is underway in Belize where there is the general sentiment that there is a need for further education in the local credit union movement. The president of the confederation explained.
Michael Alleyne, President - Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions
“You are dealing with people’s money. There are certain standards that you must meet. It is not a matter of you are trying to control as such but you are trying to make sure and the government has a responsibility because of course every time should there be any financial impropriety, the first thing one would ask is how come it is not regulated, how it wasn’t spotted before. So the credit union confederation, as a responsible organization, you are talking about dealing with millions of dollars from its members so therefore we want to make sure that they are well managed and therefore we can educate the boards, committees, whatever to the aspect of good governance, proper regulation, proper reporting, that you have to do on a monthly basis or on a weekly basis. So we’re not only going to be looking at assisting the local movement here in understanding the aspect of reporting but trying to get even those who are responsible for making them report, to understand that process as well.
As a matter of fact we have been meeting with your Central Bank Governor as well as your Prime Minister on these matters and we’ve had some very fruitful discussions and we urge the legislators or the government to engage the local movement here in part and parcel of the process of getting that legislation in place because the credit union sector is a very special sector, it is very different from the banking sector. It belongs to the members and so therefore they need to be part and parcel of the process that they will be regulated upon.”
Belize has a new member on the board of Caribbean Confederation of Credit Ynions. He is Reynaldo Burgos. The other members meeting are representatives from Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago.
