4.—(1) Section 5 of the 1979 Act (membership and voting rights) shall be amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (3) (which states the limit on a member’s interest in the shares of a credit union) for “£5,000” there shall be substituted “the greater of £5,000 and 1.5 per cent. of the total shareholdings in the credit union.”
(3) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted—
“(4A) Where subsection (3) above would be breached in relation to a member of a credit union because of a reduction in the total shareholdings in the credit union, that subsection shall, in relation to him, have effect, as respects any shares which he had, or interest which he claimed, immediately before the reduction, as if there were added at the end “at the time, or latest time, when he acquired shares, or an interest in the shares, of the credit union”.”
(4) After subsection (9) there shall be inserted—
“(10) For the purposes of subsection (3) above, the total shareholdings in a credit union at any time shall be taken to be the total shareholdings as shown in the most recent audited balance sheet to have been sent to the appropriate registrar under section 39 of the 1965 Act (annual returns).”