SBS intervenes 96 Credicoop branches and announces its bankruptcy

Elizabeth Huanca Urrutia and correspondents

Edgar Condori fears losing his life savings and that of his parents. He is a merchant and more than ten years ago he opened a fixed-term account in the Savings and Credit cooperative, Credicoop-Arequipa. It accumulated more than S / 300 thousand. Today the destination of your money is uncertain.

Yesterday, the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS) intervened the largest cooperative in the country (96 agencies nationwide) and declared its bankruptcy under the cause of total loss of the capital stock and the cooperative reserve. This generated concern in the savers of Arequipa, Puno, Tacna and Moquegua.

No heritage

The SBS Cooperative Supervision Intendant in Arequipa, Mario Zambrano, explained that to date, Credicoop has lost its estate. “The assets are not enough to cover the total deposits of its partners,” he said.

Credicoop, according to the entity’s own statement has S / 500 million in deposits. However, as of June of this year, according to the SBS, it reported a negative equity (loss) of S / 262 million. “Part of those S / 500 million has already been lost (…) We cannot talk about returning the deposits (…) we cannot guarantee it,” he admitted.

He explained that the SBS Deposit Insurance Fund is not active for cooperatives. This complicates the return of savings to members. Despite this, he asked savers for patience.

The call was not heard. Dozens of savers, the majority, older adults, retirees, single mothers, were stationed at the entity’s headquarters, located on Av. Paz del Cercado de Arequipa, demanding the return of their money. There was crying, lamentations, but no formal answer for the more than 60 thousand partners.

One of them was Vicente Adco (77). The old man cares for his granddaughter since she was 4 years old. Vicente’s daughter and mother of the little girl, died in 2009. The company where she worked compensated her. The money (approximately S / 5 thousand) was deposited in Credicoop for a fixed term, in order to guarantee their studies. On Monday, this humble family had a capital of more than S / 20 thousand, today he does not know. “What will become of my granddaughter, she will no longer be able to study,” he complains with a broken voice.

The SBS’s intervention in this cooperative is intended to safeguard the entity’s assets. Verify the exact amount of deposits, the liquidity and if it is enough to fulfill the obligations of Credicoop with its partners, creditors and around 800 workers. This process will last 45 days, renewable.

Claims in regions

In Tacna and Moquegua, aware of the news, the savers went to the cooperative’s agencies, but found them closed and without any official statementl. In Moquegua the population stayed all night in the place.

The lawyer Alex Choquecahua Ayna, a partner in that entity, called on other users to form an association of creditors in order to defend their rights. He explained that they can file criminal complaints. He called on savers to keep in touch through social networks or by cell phone number 957 149 831. In Juliaca and Puno, the SBS, with the support of the Police, closed the Cooperative’s headquarters.

Credicoop reports SBS abuse

Rosario Zapana, president of the Administrative Council of Credicoop Arequipa, along with more managers of the cooperative, described the intervention and closure of the SBS of its agencies as an abuse.

He denied that they are bankrupt. Although he admitted that at this time, they are not able to return the money to savers because it is invested.

In their discretion, the SBS acted in an overbearing manner and created a financial panic. He denounced that the headquarters in Moquegua was closed with the personnel inside. He explained that they were never informed about the intervention, despite the fact that they are in the process of adaptation, whose term expires in 2026. He said that after the intervention “there is the hand of the banks that do not want the cooperatives.”