<p>Throughout the years, savings and credit coopera tives (SCCs) int he Philippines have shown how effective they are in mobi- lizing millions of pesos of deposits from thousands of members, mostly coming from the low and middle income classes. They have grown to be even bigger than some rural and thrift banks and have provided small borrowers with a reliable alternative to informal moneylenders in various communities. What is even more important is that they have given thousands of small savers acces sible deposit facilities.</p>
<p>In view of this, the need to institute prudential norms and oversight measures to protect members’ deposits in these organizations becomes pronounced. As the SCCs try to expand and grow both in terms of membership and assets, members will certainly feel the need to have more and better information about these organizations. Mem bers, as owners of the SCCs, need to know how effi- ciently the managers and the board of directors run the shop. Is there integrity in the transactions? Does man- agement provide loans that are going to be collected on time? Are members’ deposits safe and earning adequate returns? These and other questions arise.</p>
<p>A number of measures have been proposed in this Notes . These measures will help instill discipline on the part of the SCC management and staff members so as to make the cooperatives even stronger. At the same time, the role of deposit insurance to protect members' deposits is something that needs to be given serious thought.</p>