There is a big question mark whether this will be achievable due to the election!  If there is a hung parliament there could be serious delays in forming a government which in turn could affect the date these changes come into force.  The next meeting between the FSA and the trade association is on May 10th. The FSA has been reviewing the responses it has received on CREDS and are expected to provide further information about both CREDS and CURG.

The FSA has issued a 'business planning information note' stressing the need for all credit unions to have an active plan, focussed on the future direction of the credit union, which should be circulated to all board members.

Following a consultation period on proposed changes, the FSCS has now issued a policy document on how the Scheme will be run.  From 1 January 2010 credit unions must inform their members that their deposits are covered by the FSCS using the specific words set out in the policy statement.  Also during the year credit unions will have to develop a report to inform the FSCS of the total shares that a members holds with the credit union - called the 'single customer view'(SCV), so that if the credit union should fail, the Scheme can quickly make compensation payments to members. At ACE's conference on 21 May 2010 Conaccess will demonstrate the adddition to its system to provide reports on the SCV.

 This is being held in at the County (Thistle) Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne on 21 and 22 May 2010.  Credit unions who have not already booked need to do so as a matter of urgency.  The programme for the conference is set out in our April Newsletter.