The Chairs and CEOs of Servus Credit Union, Community Savings and Common Wealth Credit Union display the scope of their combined operations if the amalgamation is approved. Pictured are (standing L to R) Bill Anhorn, Peter Galloway and Doug Hastings, Chairs of the Boards of Community Savings, Servus Credit Union and Common Wealth Credit Union respectively, and (seated L to R) Murray Haubrich, Steve Blakely and Jeff Mulligan, CEOs of Community, Servus and Common Wealth, respectively.
Edmonton, Alberta - The three Boards of Common Wealth Credit Union, Community Savings, and Servus Credit Union announce today that they are recommending an amalgamation between their three credit unions to their respective memberships for a vote in March. This follows a February 8 announcement that the credit unions had entered merger discussions.
In a joint statement from the Board Chairs, Doug Hastings (Common Wealth), Bill Anhorn (Community) and Peter Galloway (Servus), said, "Our three Boards separately and unanimously agreed to propose the amalgamation resolution to our respective memberships. In our discussions, the members, employees and communities were a top priority. Our process was built on a set of guiding principles and we unequivocally feel that this is the right thing for our credit union at the right time. We are all operating from a position of strength and we want to preserve the credit union way of banking. We now invite the members of our credit unions to take part in shaping the future of credit unions in Alberta."
The resolution will be voted upon at the following annual or special meetings in the respective head office communities of each credit union and will require two thirds majority support from those in attendance at each of the meetings:
- Servus Credit Union, March 12, Francis Winspear Centre, Edmonton
- Common Wealth Credit Union , March 13, Vic Juba Theatre, Lakeland College, Lloydminster
- Community Savings, March 18, Red Deer Lodge, Red Deer
The Boards of the three organizations have identified an immense opportunity to create a new Alberta-wide credit union that will position the credit unions for change, sustain grassroots connections, and ensure the credit union way of banking is a competitive option for members and employees in the years to come.
The merger details are unprecedented in their nature as they truly reflect the cooperative nature of the system. The guiding principles were developed by the three Boards to build a framework under which credit unions could construct a sound organization:
- The Amalgamated Credit Union is committed to ensuring that all staff will be treated with dignity and respect through the amalgamation process and everyone will have a role in the new organization.
- All branches are expected to remain open as they are in complementary geographic locations.
- As practically functional, the Amalgamated Credit Union will have a virtual office with administration departments in multiple locations during the multi-year integration process.
- The Amalgamated Credit Union will adhere to the co-operative principles and is intended to ensure that the credit union way of banking will endure for future generations of Albertans.
The proposed amalgamation packages will be available via the credit union websites or through the 92 branch locations no later than March 1. The key elements of the amalgamation agreement detail the name and bond of association of the three credit unions, the names of the Directors, the conversion of shares, the bylaws and the management and operations. The proposed by-laws outline the membership, shareholding, membership meetings and voting, Board of directors, director elections, bylaw amendments, board and committee meetings and subsidiaries.
The twelve new Board members, four from each of the founding Credit Unions, have been named in the amalgamation agreement. They are Doug Hastings, Merv Loewen, Greg Preston, Alison Starke from Common Wealth Credit Union; Bill Anhorn, Terry Cooper, Stan Odut, Lloyd Robinson from Community Savings; Peter Elzinga, Peter Galloway, Bob Porozni, Penny Reeves from Servus Credit Union.
For the purposes of fulfilling the legal requirements of the Amalgamation Agreement; the new Credit Union has been named Servus Credit Union Ltd, in essence as a "nominee" name. The Board of Directors will undertake a name selection and branding strategy review prior to registering the Articles of Incorporation November 1, 2008.
Upon positive confirmation from the members of all three credit union, the new credit union would begin operations on November 1, 2008. The Board would undertake the development of the new credit union which includes choosing the President and CEO by May 1, working on the strategic planning process, developing board policy, determining a name for the credit union, establishing a head office, focusing on communication and developing profit sharing strategies.
The proposed credit union of Common Wealth, Community and Servus would employ 1925 employees and serve 357,000 members in 63 Alberta communities through 92 locations. The combined profit sharing with their members in 2007 was $33 million with combined assets of $8.58 billion at fiscal year end of October 31, 2007.
Douglas Hastings, Chair
Jeff Mulligan, CEO
Common Wealth Credit Union
askus@cwcu.net
Bill Anhorn, Chair
Murray Haubrich, CEO
Community Savings
contactus@communitysavings.ca
Peter Galloway, Chair
Steve Blakely, CEO
Servus Credit Union
info@servuscu.ca
