East London Credit Union

LBWF and the East London Credit Union: yet more disturbing details emerge

April 20, 2020 Cllr. Chris Robbins, East London Credit Union

This blog’s investigation into the 2019 collapse of LBWF favourite the East London Credit Union (ELCU) continues to generate revelations, and what follows is a brief roundup of the most noteworthy, grouped under four headings. LBWF’s initial decision to give ELCU £500,000 in 2014 At the Council Meeting of 16 October 2014, and with standing orders suspended, the Leader, Cllr. Chris Robbins, made a verbal ‘Autumn Statement’ which, ‘[f]ollowing a consultation with residents about the Council’s budgets and priorities’, listed ‘his five priorities for the coming months’, and included: ‘The Co... »

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The East London Credit Union: some new facts, but confusion, maybe evasion, persists

January 13, 2020 East London Credit Union

 Last month, LBWF divulged some more information about its subsidisation of the now collapsed East London Credit Union (ELCU). The focus is on a large grant that LBWF awarded to ELCU in 2015 in order to help it support vulnerable residents and small businesses. Previous references to this grant were both contradictory and deficient as to important details. In a book published during 2017, a chapter co-authored by then ELCU CEO Michelle Howlin claimed that, two years earlier, LBWF had made ‘a £500,000 investment [in ELCU] to deliver a range of initiatives, including business lending’. Yet in a ... »

The East London Credit Union’s collapse: major new revelations, and the bad odour intensifies UPDATED

November 27, 2019 Cllr. Paul Douglas, East London Credit Union

As previous posts (referenced below) have pointed out, the collapse into administration on 11 September 2019 of that longstanding LBWF favourite, the East London Credit Union (ELCU), has left many questions unanswered. Gradually however, new information is trickling out, and some of it, to say the least, is both startling and deeply worrying, particularly about what has been going on in the Town Hall. The headline revelations are: LBWF states it gave ELCU £326,152 between 2014 and 2018, but the real figure is likely to be nearer c. £1m.. LBWF cannot produce any documentation authorising and re... »

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Cllr. Paul Douglas and the East London Credit Union: confusion reigns

October 17, 2019 Cllr. Paul Douglas, East London Credit Union

As a previous post pointed out (see link below), the demise of LBWF’s beloved East London Credit Union (ELCU) throws up a number of as yet unanswered questions. Some recent correspondence adds to the confusion. On 26 September 2019, I wrote to LBWF’s Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, as follows: ‘Dear. Mr. Hynes, As of today, Cllr. Paul Douglas’s register of interests form records that he is ‘a member’ of the East London Credit Union… However, if the FCA Financial Services Register is consulted, Mr. Douglas is currently listed as a ’Senior Ma... »

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The East London Credit Union crashes into administration, leaving several important questions unanswered

October 8, 2019 Cllr. Paul Douglas, East London Credit Union, Past failures: O-Regen, Stella Creasy MP, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

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... »

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