The new Independent Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) should be viewed as a benefit and not a threat to credit unions according to Mr Arthur Arnold, the chief executive of the movement's world council.

Addressing the board of the Irish League of Credit Unions this weekend in Portlaoise, Mr Arnold, said the movement should focus on getting the IFSRA to recognise and appreciate the different basis on which they are run. "It is of great benefit to credit unions to be supervised together with the rest of the financial sector so that they can actually show the rest of the financial sector and the public that they are not these secret organisations, but are very sound and safe financial institutions," he said.

The greatest challenge facing credit unions will be to meet the demands and requirements of members for an expanded range of products and services. "As time goes on, people will look for more but will still want it delivered in the most human way possible and not as just customers of banks," Mr Arnold said.

Mr John O'Regan, president of the Irish League of Credit Unions said it would work to ensure the special ethos of the credit unions would be fully taken into account in the new regulatory regime.