On paper, credit unions are ‘consumer owned’, but the reality is something different. Cooperative ownership is the unique feature of this form of business, each member-owner has one vote in major decisions, but as credit unions grow the ‘owners’ are eased out. Their control over the business is lost. In truth, consolidation means that member-owners, […]
The e-Newsletter from the CCUA came out this week with an unusual entry at the top. This was the text: 100 Largest Credit Unions and Caisses PopulairesThe latest listing of the largest 100 Canadian credit unions and caisses populaires is out. Some of the highlights As of Q2 2018, the largest 100 credit unions and […]
The Ministry of Finance released it’s set of proposals for ‘revising’ the Financial Institutions Act and the Credit Union Incorporation Act back in March. Credit unions and others were invited to comment. I took part in some of the credit union system discussions and I think the ‘credit unions of BC’ provided a polite and […]
A month ago Central 1 published a short ‘white paper’ outlining their rationale for a ‘Digital Co-op Bank‘. The publication follows quickly on the Central 1 conference and AGM in May where virtually all the presentations related to a pending digital revolution in the financial services industry. New management at Central 1 is making a […]
Will BC credit unions truly get anything out of the current legislative review? The credit union conferences have passed, those who attended have been entertained with the tales of digital disruption and organizational transformation. Many presenters championed the need to ‘think differently’, to pivot, and to look for the new opportunities. More than one McKinsey […]
We have two different kinds of credit unions in Canada. This is ‘bifurcation’, as a consultant termed it. They have different profiles, different definitions of success, and different needs from second tier organizations. ‘Consolidation’ was the word that Martha Durdin, CEO of the Canadian Credit Union Association chose to feature in part of her report […]
Canada’s credit unions endorsed key recommendations of the truth and reconciliation commission today. At the Canadian Credit Union Association AGM a member resolution, proposed by Affinity Credit Union, was carried by a wide margin. That was great. One issue went unexplored. Why are there no first nations based credit unions in this room? The […]
The National Credit Union conference next week has been pitched as exploring the credit union ‘difference’. It is common to hear the CCUA and some other advocates for credit unions make a general reference to the ‘difference’. The CCUA home page includes this text: Credit unions are full service financial co-operatives. Like other financial institutions, […]
Today the BC Ministry of Finance issued its consultation paper on changes to the Financial Institutions Act and the Credit Union Incorporation Act. The first 43 of the 68 recommendations relate to general issues and credit unions; the remainder being related to insurance and trusts. As a package, the government has responded well to BC […]
A member of Coast Capital Savings is seeking a BC Supreme Court judicial review of Coast’s application to become a bank, specifically the provincial regulatory approval. Coast is pursuing plans to convert to a ‘federal credit union’ under the Bank Act (Canada), which is defined as a bank that is cooperatively owned. But to do […]