Press release
Credit Union Stabilisation Levy Regulations 2023
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Finance today announced that the Credit Union Stabilisation Levy for 2024 will be 0.001441% of assets, maintaining the annual levy at approximately the amount charged in 2023. This will result in a charge of circa €300,000 for the entire credit union sector in 2024.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, noted that:
“The decision to maintain the annual Stabilisation Levy coupled with the earlier decision to reduce the Resolution Levy by 50% means that these costs collectively will fall from €5.3 million in 2023 to €2.8 million in 2024 for Credit Unions in Ireland.
"Both the Stabilisation and Resolution levies will be substantially reviewed in 2024. The Credit Union Advisory Committee (the CUAC) and the Department of Finance are currently working on preparing Terms of Reference for these reviews.
"We are currently in the midst of a very exciting time for credit unions with the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill completing all stages in the Oireachtas. This Bill will help Credit Unions fulfil their ambitions and better place them to take full advantage of future opportunities in providing more financial services for their Members."
Following completion of the statutory consultation process, the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, signed into law the Stabilisation Fund Levy regulations.
The Stabilisation Fund remains well-capitalised with approximately €19.8 million in assets.
The Stabilisation Fund is financial support provided to a credit union to restore and facilitate maintenance of a credit union’s reserve requirement.
Under section 59(3) of the Credit Union and Co-Operation with Overseas Regulators Act (“the CUCOR Act”) the Minister for Finance is required to make regulations prescribing the rate of contribution or a method of calculating the rate of contribution to the Stabilisation Fund which is a part of the Credit Union Fund. There is ~ €19.8 million in the Stabilisation Fund as at 30 November 2023. To enable the levy to vary from year-to-year, regulations are made annually prescribing the rate of the levy and the basis on which it will be charged. The CUCOR Act requires that the Minister consult the Central Bank and the Credit Union Advisory Committee before prescribing the annual levy rate each year.
In making the regulations for the Stabilisation Levy the Minister must have regard to the need:
Following the annual review, it has been decided to set the levy rate to 0.001441% for 2024 which will result in a charge of circa €300,000 for the credit union sector in 2024, maintaining the annual levy at approximately the amount charged in 2024. The Stabilisation Levy will be substantially reviewed in 2024 before the introduction of the 2025 levy.