Consolidation and cartel building is the long term strategy of the Big Banks and it seems to go on without much alarm. This is partly because of their patience and partly because other players are distracted by other things; technology, risk management, new capital rules, new liquidity monitoring tools, mortgage insurance changes, etc.. But these […]
At a meeting of local credit unions a few nights ago there was good discussion about two competing visions; (1) a network of community based credit unions who collaborate to benefit from economies of scale and (2) a large integrated national back office corporate ‘subsidiary’. There is tension as larger credit unions express impatience, resent […]
Questions are being put to Canadian banks about ethical sales practices. Are consumers being sold things they do not need? Are banks picking people’s pockets? Such questions may also be put to Coast Capital Savings, BC’s second largest credit union, now proposing to be a bank. The members of Coast Capital Savings Credit Union are […]
A headline in Enterprise Magazine provoked me. The text talked about ‘… collectivizing Canada’s provincial centrals and CUSO’s’ when it was introducing an article on the restructuring and streamlining of second tier entities. In fact the reverse is true. In our quest for greater efficiencies (and scale), control is being concentrated in fewer and fewer […]
FICOM is seeking input on the application from Coast Capital Savings to go federal. One question posed by FICOM is, “Have members been provided with full and fair disclosure upon which to make their decision?” Members of Coast Capital were asked to vote on a special resolution in November. “Full and fair” is not a […]
I just was recently elected to the board of my credit union, and not for the first time! I have been a member-owner, director, manager, and regulator at various times over the last 40 years. Four years ago I assumed the role of General Manager (I retired last July) and I had a chance to […]
