Надання фінансових послуг кредитними спілками в Україні як об’єкт кримінологічного дослідження

The article examines the issue of the provision of financial services by credit unions in Ukraine as an object of criminological research. The development of the financial sector, entrepreneurship and the competitive environment in Ukraine contributes to changes in all components of the financial market, in particular the financial services market. It is outlined that financial services are a transaction or several transactions related to one legal purpose, with financial means, carried out in the interests of persons other than the provider of such a financial service, as well as services directly defined by special laws as financial services. It is noted that a credit union is a financial institution established on the basis of cooperation in order to meet the needs of its members in mutual lending and the provision of financial and other services, as well as carrying out other activities specified by law, by combining monetary contributions of credit union members and other specified sources. It was found that the activities of a credit union are based on the principles of: voluntary entry and freedom to leave a credit union, equality of credit union members, transparency, etc. An analysis of the main negative factors that hinder the development of credit unions was carried out, namely: the existence in the credit cooperation market of a number of temporary financial institutions that are created with the aim of illegally enriching a limited circle of persons at the expense of contributions from other participants; violation of cooperative principles in the activities of many credit unions; insufficient solvency and a high level of financial risks; failure of credit unions to comply with the standards recommended by the National Bank of Ukraine, in particular, insufficient effectiveness of control by regulatory authorities; low level of public awareness of the nature and principles of functioning of credit unions; the presence of a «gray» sector, a large number of credit unions that do not have stability, as well as violations of cooperative principles of their activities; asset and liability formation and management policies, appropriate interest rates, and insufficient introduction of new types of services and market innovations.