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New Draft Act to safeguard growth
April 2, 2008 -- The Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) has just completed extensive work on a draft revision of the Harmonised Co-operative Societies Act and submitted the customised documents today, with 249 legal provisions, to the 7 Governments of the OECS Member States. This initiative at legislative reform was undertaken in order to increase the quality, range and competitiveness of the services provided by farmer, fisher, transport, industrial, youth savings and financial co-operatives to their 230,000 members in the OECS Union.
The current document emanated from exhaustive research including reviews of recent legislation from the US, Canada, the Bahamas and Barbados. Eighteen (18) participatory in-country seminars were also held over the past 2 years, involving over 650 stakeholders from all levels of the co-operative sector including directors, employees, the Registrars of Co-operatives and officials of the Financial Services Units.
Although the existing Harmonised OECS Co-operative Act has served the sub-region with distinction since 1995, the new Draft Act will safeguard and enhance the sustained growth achieved, amidst global challenges. The urgency of adopting and complying with higher levels of governance, transparency and accountability particularly in credit unions, in line with new international prudential, accounting and financial reporting standards, also prompted the drafting of this Bill.
The futuristic revisions proposed in the draft Act will therefore provide effective oversight for strengthened national regulatory authorities with responsibility for co-operatives, while serving as a detailed handbook for heightened compliance with international best practices by insiders – directors, employees and members. The CCCU sees this investment in a new enabling policy and legislative framework as critical value-added for doing business within the OECS Economic Union and by extension within the CARICOM Single Market.
In recognizing the effort, painstaking and professional work associated with the formulation of this Bill, the Board of Directors and Management of the CCCU expresses its appreciation to the architects of this piece of legislation:
* Mr. Melvin Edwards- International Business Specialist and President of World Council of Credit Unions, and
* Mr. Ralph Wharton – Regional Management & Credit Union Consultant
The Confederation, in anticipation of early enactment and enforcement of the new Harmonised Bill throughout the OECS, applauds also the contributions made by the Irish League of Credit Unions’ Development Foundation, the FIRST Initiative Programme and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank towards the successful completion of this exercise.
Registered co-operatives have been providing access to affordable financial services and improved production, creating and distributing wealth across the Caribbean for their more than 1.8 million members in 18 CARICOM countries for the past 60 years. The CCCU as the regional apex body for all co-operatives continues to build synergies with private and public sector programmes in order to enable more homegrown enterprises and industries to exceed international competitive standards.
About CCCU
The Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) was established on August 17, 1972 in the island of Dominica as the successor of the West Indies Conferences of Credit Societies. The CCCU is a non-Profit Organisation registered in the Federation of St Christopher and Nevis and serves as the apex trade and development organization for financial and non-financial cooperatives in the Caribbean. The CCCU is an affiliate of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and represents the Caribbean Disapora as part of the over 100 million members of the credit union sector.
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