THERE have been reports of mismanagement of funds within some credit unions in Fiji, says Standing Committee on Economic Affairs deputy chair, Premila Kumar.
She said the funds were mismanaged by the boards and executives who had oversight of the credit unions.
“We came across a situation where there was mismanagement of funds,” she said.
“The current executives shared that they had to pay off money that was misused by the previous board.”
She said some credit unions had also not conducted audits of their accounts.
The Credit Union Bill, she said, was first crafted in 1958 before Fiji’s independence, with only minor amendments in 1978.
She said legislation was now outdated and needed to be modernised to reflect global best practices.
“The world has moved on with credit union legislation, but we did not. So, to borrow some of the world’s best practices, we have included them in the bill.”
She said a major change proposed under the Bill was the establishment of a central oversight body to regulate credit unions, with the Reserve Bank of Fiji identified as the most suitable authority.
“No one could be better than the Reserve Bank of Fiji to oversee credit unions, because after all, they deal with people’s money, whether it’s paying interest or dividends.”
She said member protection was also a key focus, with the Bill aiming to safeguard the financial interests of credit union members.
