St. Francis Xavier Credit Union Members elects new board members

The Saint Francis Xavier Credit Union now has a new leadership team following elections held yesterday in Corozal. The elections bring an end to months of uncertainty after an earlier attempt was postponed due to a lack of quorum. Corozal Correspondent Vince Martinez reports.

Vince Martinez, Corozal Correspondent: The St. Francis Xavier Credit Union has entered a new chapter. Following months of anticipation and earlier postponement in June due to the lack of quorum, members returned to cast their votes, successfully electing a new board of directors tasked with helping guide the institution towards recovery. While the election marks an important milestone, the work for the newly elected board is only just beginning.

Marlowe Neal, Administrator: “So what happens now is a period of three-month transition whereby the administration, along with senior management, works with the board to have an orderly transition of the affairs of the credit union. And that obviously first starts with an orientation session which starts today with the prospective board. And I say prospective because the final vetting needs the regulator, needs to still do the final vetting to ensure that the board members are deemed fit and proper per the current legislation. There’s a plan that we have for the three months which involves creating some first some foundational documents for the committees that is their charters which lays out their roles and responsibilities and accountabilities so that the board understands their role as governance and oversight. Because oftentimes what we find in institutions is that the board and the committee members tend to perhaps get involved in operational and people decisions and that is really left to the management and staff that are trained in those various disciplines and domains. So in speaking with this board yesterday, they have an acute appreciation of their roles and responsibilities. And so it’s just to reinforce that. And once those foundational documents are done well the training continues the board has expressed an interest in in getting training in governance in in different aspects in in oversight and and running a financial institution so I look forward to working with them on that.”

Vince Martinez, Corozal Correspondent: The current administrator Marlowe Neal was appointed by the Central Bank of Belize to oversee the credit unions operation says the next three months will focus on preparing the new directors for their responsibilities. Beginning today, the board will undergo a comprehensive orientation alongside senior management and the administration team. The process is designed to familiarize directors with the credit union’s operations, governance structure, financial position, and regulatory responsibilities before they formally assume full leadership. Neal says the administration will continue working closely with the board to ensure the transition is orderly, responsible, and in the best interest of its members. 

“First of all, we want to thank all the members that showed up yesterday and that participated in the voting process. We appreciate them taking time out to come and make their decision known. This independent group of candidates that had joined for the same purpose of bringing back good governance, transparency and integrity to the St. Francis Xavier Credit Union basically asked for a reset. We told the members we want to start from scratch. We want to be able to have a board that works under the regulation, that works along with the administrator and make sure that we are complying with central bunk. The elections yesterday was a fair elections. Every candidate, independent or in a group, were able to put themselves up, offer themselves up to service for the members. And so the elections was monitored and run by the Credit Union League. So it was a fair elections and I believe that now the time is to, we have to work. There’s a lot of building of member trust. One of the things that I can see from the outcome or attendance was that it was a very poor attendance but it may have a lot of different variables to it. First of all, during the first actual AGM, we couldn’t hit quorum which we were only at 850. I think you were out there reporting on that. But the bylaws asked for a special meeting so the special meeting was enacted by the administrator and then with yesterday we had maybe roughly about 300, 350 so we see that we had less than half of the numbers out there so again that’s an indicator that we need to go back, create a strong outreach program that will reach village by village town and then also ensure that we are talking with members and bringing them back.”

Vince Martinez, Corozal Correspondent: The St. Francis Xavier Credit Union has spent the past several years under regulatory administration following concerns over the financial mismanagement that led to intervention by the Central Bank. Since then, significant efforts have been made to stabilize the institution’s finance, strengthen internal controls, and restore confidence among its thousands of members. With a board now elected many members see Sunday’s vote as more than just an election, it represents an opportunity for a fresh start. Although the road ahead will be requiring careful oversight, continued regulatory compliance and cooperation between management and new directors. There is a cautious optimism but the credit unit is moving closer to returning to full member led governance. For many in Corozal, the hope is that this new leadership will not only safeguard the institution’s financial future but also restore the confidence and the trust that once made Saint Francis Xavier credit union one of the district’s strongest community institutions. Reporting for Love, this is Vince Martinez.