PRA writes to Credit Unions on annual assessment

Helen Ainsworth, Senior Manager of the PRA’s Credit Unions team has written separately to credit unions (CUs) with total assets of up to £10 million and to CUs with total assets of £10 million to £40 million.

The letters to each cohort identify the following key risks that CUs are expected to address over the next 12 months:

• operational resilience and disorderly failure including the specific issues arising from:
  • dependencies on third parties and outsourcing;
  • operational changes and particularly ensuring that material changes are notified appropriately;
  • loss of service, particularly arising from cyber attacks and operational failures; and
  • ease of exit, especially considering how certain activities (such as providing transactional accounts or processing Department of Work and Pensions benefits or members’ salaries) might increase the complexity of its operations and increase the risk of disorderly failure; and
• corporate governance.

The letter to larger CUs also contained feedback from PRA on thematic visits it undertook focusing on liquidity and investments management.