Plenty Of Road Blocks To InternationalLoan Participations

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas - (08/03/04) During the World Council of CreditUnions’ International Leadership Institute here, severalrepresentatives of African credit unions lamented they aredesperately short on liquidity to fund loan demand. At the sametime, one Irish credit union rep said his CU is flush withliquidity, as loan demand has been tepid. So why isn’t therean international loan participation market among credit unions? Theanswer, according to several people who spoke with The Credit UnionJournal, lies in the fact a loan in one place wouldn’tqualify as a loan in another. Some credit unions in Africa, forinstance, have sky-high delinquency rates. There is nointernational loan participation market “because of the risksinvolved,” confirmed the World Council’s ArthurArnold.