WOCCU Urges Proportionality for New Zealand's Credit Union Sector

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Senior Vice President of International Advocacy and General Counsel Andrew Price arrived here this week at the request of First Credit Union (NZ) to meet with key policymakers on reforms that will improve and strengthen the country’s credit union sector.   

In addition to meetings with several credit unions, the trip included a conversation with Hon. Andrew Bayly, New Zealand Minister of Commerce, and key officials from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), the country’s central bank.

“I hope to bring the international perspective of credit unions to prudential regulators here to show the success that properly tailored regulations play in allowing the credit union member-owned cooperative model to serve underserved communities,” said Price.

There are currently five credit unions in New Zealand serving approximately 150,000 members, with US $680 million in assets.

“Regulators in New Zealand often take rules designed for banks and apply them to credit unions without consideration of our unique model. This often prevents us from maximizing our service to our members and our communities,” said Simon Scott, CEO of First Credit Union.

Current issues under consideration are the application of Basel Capital standards, IFRS 9-based expected credit loss accounting measures and the addition of deposit insurance to the system.

“Proportional application of these standards could not only increase safety and soundness, but also release the potential of credit unions to increase financial inclusion and posture credit unions as an economic driver for local communities,” said Price, who also met with the Financial Services Federation, which represents other non-banking financial institutions in New Zealand.

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, 74,634 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 104 países atienden a 411 million de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.