Guide to a Strategic Merger
Thursday 11 January 2024
A merger, in the right circumstances, can be used strategically to achieve a wide range of benefits for both credit unions involved.
The Strategic Merger Guides provides guidance for ABCUL members on how to carry out a merger, including the following sections:
- Assessing a merger
- Merger planning and preparation
- Legal and regulatory requirements of merging
- Integrating the credit unions
- Example case studies of credit union mergers
The guide will provide a practical and detailed toolkit for carrying out a merger, but also contains a dedicated section for credit unions at the stage of considering whether a merger is the right step forward.
This guide was produced by ABCUL with the support of the Strategic Merger Taskforce, a group of credit unions chairs and CEOs that set out to discuss how strategic mergers can be supported in the sector. Alongside the Strategic Merger Guide, ABCUL produced a white paper reporting on the findings of the Strategic Merger Taskforce.
The Strategic Merger Whitepaper discusses why strategic mergers are important to the success of the British credit union movement, and identifies the barriers that need to be overcome for credit unions to utilise strategic mergers.
Both the ABCUL Strategic Merger Guide and ABCUL Strategic Merger White Paper documents can be downloaded using the links below.
ABCUL Strategic Merger Guide (White Paper)
Update for credit unions merging who are in receipt of benefit payments
ABCUL have agreed a process with HMRC officials to ensure the process of updating the bank details for the merging credit unions members is as smooth a process as possible.
HMRC have asked, where possible, to be given as much advance notice of mass updates to banking information for benefit payments and the potential date for the merger to be completed.
- Credit unions must prepare and provide a password protected excel spreadsheet with the benefit recipients name and reference, no other personal information is required.
- The password protected spreadsheet should then be sent to Karen.huckle@hmrc.gov.uk
- The password and new bank details for receipt of benefit payment should then be sent separately to Peter.flanaghan@hmrc.gov.uk
HMRC will then work through the file and update all the benefit recipients depositing bank information.
In Karen’s absence the file can be sent to nicholas.obrien56@hmrc.gov.uk
If you have any questions about the process, please do not hesitate to contact your Member Relationship Manager or email members@abcul.org