This legislative initiative places Savings & Credit Cooperatives (Cooperativas de Ahorro y Créditos or COOPACs) under the direct supervision of the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP. These cooperatives had not previously fallen within the scope of the supervisor’s remit.

At present the COOPAC are supervised by the National Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Peru (Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Perú or Fenacrep). This organisation is made up of the COOPACs themselves, and membership is voluntary. Its mission is more one of support than regulation, as it provides defence, technical assistance and training services. It does not exercise oversight. Consequently, the COOPACs lack robust corporate governance policies and their management systems are not always suitable for tackling the kind of risks to which they are exposed.

With this proposal, the Superintendencia aims to amend the current model of oversight for the COOPACs and provide real safeguards to depositors entrusting funds to them. If the proposal prospers, these depositors will be protected in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation of the COOPACs. The protection would be backed by an independent Cooperatives Insurance Fund parallel to the Deposit Insurance Fund, and one single registry for these Cooperatives, so that the Cooperatives System can grow more healthily.