Choiseul Credit Union Behind By $2m Plus In Minimum Share Requirements Says Silvanus Fontenard

Mr Silvanus Fontenard

In a recent FaceBook post by Silvanus Fontenard, I came across this article which to my mind makes for interesting reading. Here is the full post, unedited.
"From January 2010 to December 2012 I pleaded with the Board of the Choiseul Credit Union to commence an aggressive and proactive process of selling permanent shares to members to enable the society to be compliant with the regulations of the FSRA.

 But all board members vehemently opposed the recommendation on the advice of a new board member who misunderstood the system, but whom they thought was the St Lucia's best authority on credit union management.

 But guess what? At the end of December 2016, and seven years later, the society fell behind the minimum share requirements by close to 2.5 million dollars and now have to make the adjustment by transferring large amounts to permanent shares to become compliant.

Wouldn't have been much easier on members if the process had been commenced seven years ago? I guess when people practice hatred instead of being businesslike these are the consequences. I wonder what the fool who mislead them is saying now.

 By the way I was just informed that he has just been reelected to serve for another three years to continue to mislead the society and take it deeper into the risk of possible deregulation.

 My advice to members though is that you should be proactive and buy as many permanent Shares as possible to protect your organization.

 Many board and committee members don't really care about the future of the credit Union, They are more interested in the power derived from serving, using the Society to promote their partisan political agenda or the perks such as traveling to conventions and summits and as a result do not even read the regulations and the policies .

What is most important is that the Society belongs to the membership and as a result you should all act to protect and secure its future for your children . So I advise you all to invest at least 10 percent of your savings in Permanent Shares to ensure that you not only meet the regulations but exceed it - This way you will always be ahead of the pact and can become a model organization again just as it was in the 1990's."

To make the Credit Union more sensitive to the needs of its members, Fonte thinks that certain measures must be taken. He says.

 “St Lucia needs a very tough Registrar of Credit Unions who will insist that regulations are adhered to and place heavy fines on delinquent officers who violate the regulations - This way there will always be full compliance.

Our Registrars are just playing games and this is why Elected Credit Union officials are able to break the law and get re-elected year after year.

Imagine a man who had a history of delinquency was allowed to sit on a Credit Union Board and ends up rising to the post of president while the registrar and the supervisory committee stands by - All because of partisan politics."

Why aren't you part of the board......did you opt out or didn't take part in the election/nomination process? Someone asked Fonte.

“My time at Choiseul Credit Union ended over four years ago, when the crooked board members stated that they did not want to work with me because I stood against the extortion which some were practicing as well as the refusal to undertake practices to secure a safe and sustainable future for the society.

 I don't think I will even set foot in there anymore.

My hope though is that members will open their eyes and not leave but make changes including getting rid of the crooked people who hold office”