The delivery system for Federal emergency support programs to business excludes most credits unions; Central 1 must step up.
Credit Unions Sidelined by COVID-19?
Ownership and Accountability
Banks Heating Things Up
Super Regulator
Democracy Debased
The May 2019 Central 1 Triennial Governance Review report has provoked too little discussion. Unfortunately, it reflects another incremental shift away from models of democratic ownership upon which the co-operative business model is based. This is another step in the effective ‘dis-mantling’ of second tier credit union entities as political agents for credit union members. […]
Credit Union Technocracy
Technocracy is replacing democracy in our credit union world. The proud claims to consumer co-operative ownership are hollowing. The roles for member-owners and their representatives (elected directors) have narrowed. These changes have political and other implications. Our recent BC Advocacy Day delegation reflected the changing nature of our BC credit union system. Credit union executives […]
Go Local? Together….
Provincially chartered ‘local’ credit unions may want to create their own coordinating entity or federation to serve that set of interests.
Leadership Wanted
Fragile FI’s
BC credit unions have declining political leverage. Banks and credit unions are created and nurtured as political accommodations. Banks are rooted in the constituencies they serve and the political clout of those constituencies, for good or bad. This is the core premise of Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit, […]
Regulatory Over-reach
BC credit unions now have ‘two’ regulatory systems; the second one has been implemented using ‘opportunities’ within the Financial Institutions Act (‘FIA’), not envisioned under the FIA.
Confucian Co-operativism
Co-operatives can value free markets without conflating these with capitalism, and the monopolies that result.