Australia’s CUs, Building SocietiesForm Group

SYDNEY, Australia - (04/03/06) This country's Credit Union IndustryAssociation (CUIA) and Australian Association of Permanent BuildingSocieties (AAPBS) are forming a joint venture to promote the valueof mutually owned financials. Together the two groups representmore than 150 such institutions. The formation of the venturefollows a 2005 partnership in which credit unions and buildingsocieties worked together in a battle to protect the privacy ofmembership lists, which have been demanded by some groups as partof takeover attempts.