Board Chairman Melvin Edwards,
St. Kitts & Nevis
Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions
"Regulation. We are being threatened with bank-friendly legislation and regulation which does not fit within the credit union cooperative model. Our difference, what sets us apart from banks, will be stymied, and our growth will be negatively affected. The regulatory changes will force us to take a bank approach, and we fear our cooperative status will be compromised."
Board Treasurer Grzegorz Bierecki,
Poland National Association of Cooperative
Savings and Credit Unions
Recommended For You
"Our biggest challenge is action taken by the government and the European Union, which will create a singular regulatory structure. It applies not just to countries that belong to the E.U., but all financial institutions in Europe. The E.U. is also calling for a single deposit guarantor.
Poland is included in this decision, and it will impact our operations greatly. The time frame is very short, and we expect changes within two years. The threat is that all [financial institutions], including credit unions, will be measured the same way as large-scale institutions. This will impact our operations greatly."
"Most credit unions will survive because we're very much consolidated as a system. When you come into any credit union office in Poland, it's like one big institution. Working as a system allows us to compete and survive. In Poland, we don't have as much money at our disposal as you do here in America, and we are forced to be more efficient and cooperative because we can't afford to have separate software systems or separate advertising. We do it for collective-purchase power; one brand makes advertising cheaper and allows us to compete more effectively.
Director Sylvester Kadzola, Malawi,
Malawi Union of Savings and
Credit Cooperatives
"In our case, a number of areas are being impacted by what I call the four F's: the financial crisis, and a lack of food, fuel and fertilizer. The global financial crisis, even though we don't yet know the full impact, will affect Malawi because we depend upon donations from rich countries, and we anticipate losing developmental funding for credit unions and other [social] programs.
For our people, we are experiencing an escalation in food prices, which leaves less money for other necessities, and they need loans. The rising price of fuel impacts everything else, drives up the prices of all goods. There is also a lack of fertilizer in Malawi, making it very expensive, and we have many credit unions that are agriculturally based, so their members need loans to support their agricultural business. Poor families are feeling the greatest impact, so as a credit union system, we are encouraging a mobilization of savings and loans that can assist members of modest means."
Director Alcenor Pagnussatt, Brazil
Confedera??o Interestadual das Cooperativas Ligadas ao SICREDI.
"Unlike the rest, Brazil doesn't have any legislation problems, our legislation is very favorable. We are growing at more than 30% annualized each year. Our biggest challenge is to build more branches to serve our growing membership, and staff them with well-qualified and well-trained employees."
"Like in Europe, we are already regulated by a central bank, and also operate as one brand. We have 130 credit unions in Brazil, 1.3 million members and 1,006 branches, and they all operate as one institution. Brazil also has other credit union cooperative systems. My organization is SICREDI, which handles front-office and back-office operations. We also have a trade association that represents credit unions at a national level. We do this so we can effectively compete against banks."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
