His unlikely day trip aimed to highlight the City watchdog's role in opening the way to a doubling of the size of the mutuals sector a Labour manifesto pledge. Among these customer- or worker-owned organisations, including huge companies such as John Lewis and Nationwide building society, are the 350 credit unions. These are locally based lenders whose interest rates are capped by law and whose clients tend to include the low-income consumers left behind by the big banks.
The new product has one of the lowest interest rates in the market and comes weeks after credit unions were cleared to triple their current mortgage and business lending. Central Bank executives have given the go-ahead to changes to lending regulations for the sector. The new rules would allow an increase in the total lending capacity of the sector for mortgage and business lending from €2.9bn to €9.9bn, the Central Bank said. A number of larger credit unions already offer mortgages, but each has a different interest rate.
A leader leading from the front sets the tone for the rest of the crew, emphasizing that senior management is essential for nurturing a positive organisational culture.
