Marlowe Neal Replaces Marshalleck as SFXCU Administrator

Earlier this year, the Registrar of Credit Unions announced that retired banker, Martin Marshalleck had been appointed as an administrator to oversee the management and operation of Saint Francis Xavier Credit Union in Corozal Town.  His primary responsibility was to ensure that the equities, as well as the rights of creditors who belong to the lending institution, are protected.  Marshalleck has since stepped down from the post and has been succeeded by fellow banker Marlowe Neal.  But what does the change in leadership mean for the embattled credit union and the effort by the Central Bank of Belize to turn things around.  Central Bank Governor Kareem Michael is also the Registrar of Credit Unions.

Kareem Michael

Kareem Michael, Registrar of Credit Unions

“We have a good feeling of St. Francis [Xavier Credit Union] and we want St. Francis now, in terms of governance and performance, to be a model for what credit unions should be.  It’s a target to achieve because a lot of the credit unions have not elevated their governance framework and a lot of the issues which we see in the past that have troubled credit unions has boiled down to governance, weak governance systems within the credit unions.  The transition now is that once we have placed in these governance frameworks and other policies and procedures, we expect this to be no longer than a year.  So we’re targeting, depending on how well we do these things, and I mean we, in terms of the Registrar of Credit Unions and the administrator and his team, it’s looking as if the final date will be next year June.  So roughly a year and some change and I say June because that’s when an AGM could be held or should be held.  But again, this is just a target date, this is not set in stone and we want to make sure that all the proper systems, policies and procedures are in place.  As far as the shift in administrator, the previous administrator had received a more lucrative offer, one in which the credit union could not match and one in which the registrar would not have accepted, even if that administrator had requested to stay.  So it is nothing to do with the administration itself or the operations, but rather that he went on to greener pastures.”