Ukrainian Parliament Passes New Law for Credit Unions

MADISON, Wis.—The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 14 passed a law updating the country’s legal framework governing the operations of credit unions, laying the foundation for a level playing field for credit unions in the financial services market. These changes to the legislation will facilitate increased access to financing for underserved Ukrainians.

World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) International Advocacy and International Projects team, which implements the USAID Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project, provided extensive analysis, feedback and advocacy input for the bill.

The law:

• Expands the list of services credit unions can provide to their members, including currency exchange and certain types of payment services.
• Expands access to finance through credit unions for certain legal entities (farms, cooperatives, trade unions, micro enterprises, housing cooperatives, religious organizations).
• Strengthens licensing, corporate governance and capital requirements in credit unions.
• Expands the ways credit unions raise capital, including through subordinated debt.
• Establishes stabilization and liquidity support funds for credit unions at the level of united credit unions, the central financing facilities.
• Improves procedures for credit union mergers, acquisitions and other voluntary reorganization.

WOCCU International Advocacy and the USAID/WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project in Ukraine have been developing and advocating for the adoption of the new credit union law since 2016 in cooperation with the National Bank of Ukraine, which regulates credit unions, and the country’s two credit union associations.

WOCCU and the CAP Project also provided comprehensive support for updating the legislation by suggesting global best practices in credit union operations and regulations.

“We could not be happier for the credit unions World Council represents in Ukraine. The new law will strengthen the reliability of the sector and consumer confidence in it by expanding the availability of financial services credit unions can provide to the general public. Its adoption also paves the way for the introduction of deposit insurance for the credit union sector,” said Andrew Price, World Council of Credit Unions Senior Vice President of International Advocacy and General Counsel.

WOCCU and the CAP Project have also been providing technical assistance to amend the country’s Law on Deposit Guarantee Fund, making it possible for credit unions to join the system. The deposit guarantee system for credit unions in Ukraine is also key to the sector’s growth and to providing increased access to finance for underserved Ukrainians, including micro-, small- and medium-sized farmers. With government guarantees in place, credit unions will be able to mobilize more funds and channel them to serve more people in need of financing.

This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by WOCCU for the USAID/Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project in Ukraine, agreement number AID-121-LA-16-00002.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 300+ programas de asistencia técnica en 90 países. A nivel mundial, 82,758 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 97 países atienden a 404 million de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.