CREDS 1.1 Application and purpose

1. (1)

   1The Credit Unions New Sourcebook, CREDS for short, is the specialist sourcebook for credit unions.

2. (2)

   Northern Ireland credit unions are not covered by the Handbook or by CREDS. They are exempt from the general prohibition in respect of accepting deposits. They do not, therefore, need to be authorised persons if they do not carry on any regulated activity other than accepting deposits in the United Kingdom.

1. (1)

   CREDS covers only the requirements associated with a Part IV permission to accept deposits. The Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBS) sets out additional requirements for credit unions that are CTF providers in relation to cash deposit CTFs.

2. (2)

   Other permissions are covered elsewhere in the Handbook. So, for example, a credit union seeking a permission to undertake a regulated mortgage activity would need to comply with the requirements in the Mortgages and Home Finance: Conduct of Business sourcebook (MCOB), and a credit union seeking a permission to undertake insurance mediation activity in relation to non-investment insurance contracts would need to comply with the requirements in the Insurance: Conduct of Business sourcebook (ICOBS).

3. (3)

   The provisions of the Prudential sourcebook for Mortgage and Home Finance Firms, and Insurance Intermediaries (MIPRU) and the Interim Prudential sourcebook for Investment Businesses (IPRU(INV)) may also be relevant to a credit union whose Part IV permission includes insurance mediation activity or mortgage mediation activity or which is a CTF provider with permission to carry on designated investment business.

Every credit union is either a version 1 credit union or a version 2 credit union. The rules relating to, for example, borrowing, the payment of dividends on shares, capital and lending to members are different depending on whether a credit union is a version 1 credit union or a version 2 credit union.

CREDS sets out rules and guidance that are specific to credit unions. CREDS 10 refers to other more generally applicable provisions of the Handbook that are likely to be relevant to credit unions with Part IV permission to accept deposits. For details of these provisions, we would expect credit unions to access the full text in the Handbook.

The status of the provisions in CREDS is indicated by icons containing the letters R, G or E. Please refer to chapter six of the Reader's Guide for further explanation about the significance of these icons. The Reader's Guide can be found at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Handbook/readers_guide.pdf