No 52/2016 "On savings and loan associations and their unions"

The purpose of this Law is to lay down the rules, criteria and conditions for establishing, licensing, organizing, supervising and liquidating the savings and loan associations (SLAs) and their unions, as well as their supervision in the Republic of Albania. The SLAs are considered as providers of financial services mainly in rural areas for collecting deposits and extending loans. They are legal entities established based on the voluntary organization of its members, who deposit their money at the association to be used by the association for extending loans only to the members of the SLA. It must be noted that the SLAs are legal entities but they are not commercial companies, pursuant to the stipulations of the law "On entrepreneurs and commercial companies" and do not participate in any of the commercial companies pursuant to the stipulations of this law. Given their characteristics, the SLAs are regulated by a separate law, which aims at consolidating the SLAs market.