Introduction

     The Trinidad and Tobago Credit Union Deposit Insurance Fund Co-operative Society Limited (TTCUDIF or the Deposit Insurance Fund) was registered in response to a need as revealed by research. The Deposit Insurance Fund is an Independent and Autonomous Institution regulated under the Co-operative Societies Act 1971 (Chap. 81:03) and the Co-operative Societies Regulations. Our members are Credit Unions who are also regulated under this Act.

      The TTCUDIF was registered as a co-operative society in July 1999 with a membership of forty-two (42) credit unions. The TTCUDIF is one of several interrelated “lines of defense” in a fairly complex system that is designed to provide limited guarantee of all members’ funds on deposits with credit unions who are members of the TTCUDIF. The first line of defense is the credit union itself.

      The two main reasons why credit unions, or other financial institutions, fail are due to a lack of liquidity and an inability to operate on a positive basis. In the first case, the credit union cannot meet its members’ demands for cash. In the second case, it does not have an adequate capital base (share equity plus retained earnings) to carry it through tough times when its financial margin is narrowed or to withstand significant loan or investment losses.