Non-EU bank fees and minor adjustments: Oikocredit modifies Participation Terms
Oikocredit is modifying the terms and conditions that govern investments made in the cooperative by purchasing and holding participations. The changes will come into effect on 1 June 2024. The updated terms apply to existing participations as well as issuance requests for participations submitted in May 2024.
Non-EU bank fees: adjusting the dividend payment process
The main change relates to the dividend payment process, which takes place following the Annual General Meeting we hold in June each year. This change mainly affects participants holding participations in USD, CAD or GBP.
The current Participation Terms require Oikocredit to pay dividends in cash where the dividend surpasses the threshold of EUR/USD/CHF/CAD/GBP 1 or SEK 10, and you have chosen to have your dividend paid out.
Transaction fees of dividend payments within the European Union are usually less than EUR 1. However, transaction fees of dividend payments to participants outside the European Union can be significant and larger than the dividend. Oikocredit absorbs the transaction fees charged by its own bank, whereas the participant bears their own bank’s transaction fee, if any. Transaction fees that participants’ banks charge, vary per bank.
We have therefore decided that, where any dividend does not cover any applicable transaction fees, the dividend will be automatically reinvested. This requires us to amend the wording of the Participation Terms at 8.5.
When the updated terms enter into force on 1 June 2024, Oikocredit will reinvest the dividends of participants whenever these are less than the applicable transaction fees.
Other minor adjustments to the terms
We are making other minor modifications to the Participation Terms:
At 4.12, in the timeline for redemptions, the sixth business day of the month changes to the seventh, because in practice redemption payments are sometimes processed on the seventh business day.
At 10.3, we are adding wording to reduce the chance of errors relating to redemptions by joint participation holders.
In general, we are making the terms and their annexes more consistent by replacing the words ‘investor’ and ‘holder’ with ‘participant’ where relevant.
If you have any questions about these changes, you're welcome to contact your local investment support officer.
For more information about investing in Oikocredit, please refer to the relevant country Invest page. You can access the updated Participation Terms here.