The East London Credit Union crashes into administration, leaving several important questions unanswered
On 11 September 2019, the East London Credit Union (ELCU), trading as the Waltham Forest Community Credit Union, collapsed into administration. Simultaneously, the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme announced that it was stepping in to safeguard ELCU’s 5,500 members’ deposits, valued at £2.25m, and most could expect like-for-like payment within a week. The administrator, LBWF, and the East London and West Essex Guardian posted similar reassurance. In some ways, this upshot was surprising. Credit union failures are not unknown – on average, about seven go bust every year. And although UK credit union membership has increased significantly, the number of UK credit unions has declined, a... »