Amendments Nos. 96, 149 and 150 are related and may be discussed together by agreement.
SECTION 67.
I move amendment No. 96:
In page 53, lines 28 to 31, to delete subsection (2).
The proposal to delete subsection 67(2) arises because it is duplicated in part in paragraph 4 of the Third Schedule to the Bill. The draftsman has accordingly decided to delete this subsection and expand paragraphs 3 and 4 of that Schedule. The proposed amendment to paragraph 3 seeks to provide inter alia that a credit committee cannot be composed of a member of the credit control committee, the credit control officer or the credit officer. Deputies will be aware that the credit committee assesses applications for loans while the functions of the credit control committee is to secure the repayment of loans outstanding from members of the credit union. What is effectively being sought here is to ensure there is no overlap between the two credit union activities. I understand the registrar has experienced situations in the past where common membership of both the loan approval and loan repayments committee have resulted in unwise decisions being made about the suitability of a loan applicant and the subsequent failure to pursue that member at a later date. What effectively happened was that individuals who accepted a member’s suitability for a loan subsequently failed to acknowledge that this decision was flawed or they failed to pursue a timely repayment of the overdue loan. Based on such experience, it is accordingly appropriate we achieve a clear line of demarcation between the loan approval and loan repayment functions within credit unions.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 97:
In page 53, subsection (4), lines 37 to 39, to delete paragraph (a) and substitute the following:
"(a) at least once in every month notify the board of directors of the new members whose applications they have approved; and".
Amendment agreed to.
Section 67, as amended, agreed to.