The implementation of this principle in Coopealianza is reaffirmed by locating and maintaining itself as the private, collectively owned company with the largest associative base in Costa Rica. As of December 31, 2023, the cooperative has 252.684 members distributed throughout the 84 cantons. 

The highest concentration of associates (44%) is located in the province of San José, in second place is the province of Puntarenas with 22% of the association base, in third and fourth place are the provinces of Alajuela with 11% and the province of Guanacaste which represents 9%. The remaining 14% is concentrated in the provinces of Heredia, Cartago and Limón.

During the year 2023, Coopealianza incorporates 17.056 members, which corresponds to an increase of 7% in relation to the association base in 2022.

The track record of transparency and accountability allows the company to have the trust and credibility of its associates and maintain a growing trend in its associative base. This sustained growth is the result of a business strategy aimed at offering a wide range of financial and non-financial services, adapted to the needs of associates and clients.

The accumulated growth in the three-year period corresponds to a total of 32.522 associates, showing constant growth in the associate base, which contributes to the permanence of the company.

In Coopealianza, democratic control is generated in the first instance, by electing the delegates in the regional assemblies and then, in the General Assembly by Delegates, by voting for those who make up the management bodies within the cooperative.

The highest body of political representation, which operates as the greatest authority in decision-making, is the General Assembly of Delegates of Coopealianza, which is made up of three hundred proprietary delegates and sixty substitute delegates. The delegates are elected through the Regional Delegate Appointment Assemblies, a space where the associative base of each locality defines its representatives.

For the election processes of the governing bodies, there is a process that ensures the suitability of the applicants, by defining the profile requirements for the position of director and member of support committees, in accordance with what is defined in the Social Statute. of Coopealianza and to binding supervisory regulations.

Delegate training processes

With the purpose of promoting suitability at all levels of the organization, training is available for delegates, which allows them to understand the responsibilities of the position, as well as information about the regulations that Coopealianza must adhere to as a supervised company. .

For the period 2023, the training focuses on providing the knowledge that allows the understanding of the following external regulations of the supervisory entities: the CONASSIF Agreement 4-16 Corporate Governance Regulations, Law 4179, Law of Cooperative Organizations and its reforms, Law 7391, Law of Regulation of the financial intermediation activity of cooperative organizations, CONASSIF 4-16, Corporate Governance Regulations are responsibilities of the Board of Directors, Law No. 71, Decree-Law of Bank Nationalization, information on the System National Financial, Information on the origins of Financial Supervision, at the global and national level.

• In the period from September to October 2023, the training process was developed Conversing between Coopealianza 2023 owners: In total, 9 meetings were held in the towns of: Guápiles, San José (2), Alajuela, Quepos, Pérez Zeledón (2), Golfito and Liberia, bringing together delegates from all over the country. During the process, there was a presentation by the general manager, Francisco Montoya Mora, and the accompaniment of the president of the Board of Directors, Vinicio Murillo Murillo, along with the support teams of collaborators who participated in the different trainings.

• In the period of November and December 2023, a second training was carried out called: “Corporate Governance and Suitability: keys to strengthening cooperative entities.” The purpose of this training was to strengthen skills on issues related to the responsibilities of the members of the Board of Directors and the Technical Support Committees of Coopealianza. The process included a total of 9 training sessions in different locations throughout the country. The training was given by the master Javier Cascante Elizondo.

The training is prepared to provide a line of understanding of the financial intermediation business, from its evolution at a global and national level, as well as to also provide an explanation of how it is applied in the real life of the cooperative. Each training provides support material and a communication channel is maintained for questions and queries from delegates.

In Coopealianza, each associate makes contributions of social capital as defined in the Social Statute and internal regulations. These contributions allow for the sustainability and permanence that make up the cooperative's assets. The contributions of social capital per member show that 72% maintain balances of contributions for amounts of up to 250 thousand colones.

Surplus distribution

During the 2023 period, the sum of ¢2.397 million was distributed in surpluses, resulting from the surpluses generated as of December 31, 2022. The distribution was made proportionally to the amount of share capital that the associates registered as of January 1, 2023.

Direct benefits for associates

Coopealianza provides direct benefits to its associates through the following programs:

Benefits for funeral expenses: They have the purpose of offering the member or his or her family financial aid that allows them to cover part of the funeral expenses in the event of the death of the member or their family members (spouse, children and parents). In the 2023 period, a total of 1.388 cases were processed, for an amount of ¢235.550 million in favor of associates and their families.

Benefits for job discontinuance: This benefit has the purpose of providing financial help to associates who are going through the difficult situation of losing their job or if they are unable to work temporarily, due to illness or in the event of an accident due to an illness that permanently interrupts their work. serious or temporary source of income. In the period from January to December 2023, 3.736 benefits were granted for discontinuation and temporary disability. The amount invested was ¢593 million.

Minor help to associates for community events: They contemplate all those minor contributions that are granted to organized groups, development associations or actors, that contribute directly to the development of communal activities and that must be requested by Coopealianza associates. These collaborations consist of small prizes, usually household appliances. Cash collaborations are not contemplated. From January to December 2023, 79 minor grants were applied, investing ¢5.982.175.

In 2023, the partial modification to the Social Statute and the updating of strategic planning are carried out, as relevant facts of the fourth cooperative principle.

Partial modification to the Social Statute

The purpose of the partial reform of the Social Statute of COOPEALIANZA RL is to adjust to the changes made by Conassif, Central Bank of Costa Rica, Sugef or other binding regulations, as well as the needs of the business.

For the period 2023, the most significant regulations that generate changes in the corporate statute are the following:

• Modification to the Monetary Policy Regulations, in aspects related to the minimum legal reserve requirements and liquidity reserve, which indicates that the savings and credit cooperatives supervised by Sugef will be obliged to comply with the minimum legal reserve requirement with a graduality defined by the norm.

• SUGEF Agreement 15-22 Regulation on Suitability and Performance of Members of the Governing Body and Senior Management of Supervised Entities and Companies, which establishes the suitability and performance standards that apply to the members of the Boards of Directors or Council of Administration and Senior Management in order to strengthen the corporate governance of the audited entities.

• SUGEF Agreement 24-22 Regulation to Qualify Supervised Entities, where Sugef establishes the framework to determine the degrees of financial normality and irregularity of the supervised companies, with manifest or expected impact on stability, liquidity or solvency, in order to be take actions aimed at resolving them promptly and effectively.

As a result of the changes established in the statute, the Board of Directors presented to the L General Assembly by Delegates, the partial reform project to the Social Statute of Coopealianza, which contemplates 22 articles, namely: 16,17, 20, 24, 29, 31, 36, 37, 52, 61, 63,64, 65, 69, 71,78, 79, 81, 82, 86, 90, 94 and XNUMX as well as transitional I, II and III of the Social Statute of Coopealianza. This important proposed reform was unanimously approved by the General Assembly by Delegates unanimously.

Coopealianza has training processes aimed at workers, associates, directors and aspiring management bodies.

Training for workers

Training for workers is provided to develop the skills, knowledge and competencies that allow them to perform their work with quality. The axes on which the training processes of Coopealianza workers are developed are the following:

Induction to the company and the position: Coopealianza has a virtual education platform, which allows the structuring and provision of courses, which are developed by workers when they join the company.

Implementation of the change: The success of change is an adequate understanding of it. Understanding the above, collaborators trained in the use of tools, policies and application of due processes. In this way, the quality of the products and services provided to our associates and customers is ensured.

Training in skills and competency development: Workers who occupy key positions that are responsible for the main business processes are updated in their knowledge and experiences, through training processes that are developed external to the organization.

Training on regulatory issues: Given that trust is a pillar of a financial company, at Coopealianza all workers and management bodies receive training in regulatory issues, which allow them to operate in line with the regulations of the sector and in a transparent manner. 

Training for associates and aspiring management bodies

Coopealianza has training opportunities for its associates in general and specifically, for all those who are interested in being part of management bodies, seeking to ensure the suitability of decision makers. The available programs are:

Permanent training program for aspiring members of the Board of Directors: It is made up of six courses taught virtually, through classes taught entirely by a teacher and with the support of virtual tools for participation in forums and delivery of different types of assignments. These aspects are articulated in four axes: 1) the management of financial entities: supervision and risk management environment; 2) the management of financial data: statements and indicators specifically; 3) the legal and governance framework of a financial entity and 4) the role of a director.

Permanent training program for associates and aspiring members of the Education and Social Welfare Committee and Surveillance Committee: Starting in 2023, a specific training network is defined for those associates interested in training and for those interested in being part of the support bodies: Education and Social Welfare Committee and Surveillance Committee. The academic offer, developed with Cenecoop, contains more than 30 courses on different topics of current interest, which any associate can take for free according to the minimum quotas and registration or registration periods, which are mostly monthly. However, associates interested in being part of the support committees indicated in the previous paragraph must develop 10 specific courses, related to topics specific to Coopealianza's line of business, such as: accounting, finance, strategic planning, cooperative identity and values, among others. 

Cooperatives can achieve their full potential by working together, both nationally and internationally. These processes of mutual cooperation allow resources to be potentiated and transformed into an instrument of sustainable development for their communities.

Within the national scope, Coopealianza is part of the Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Costa Rica RL (Fedeac), which constitutes an organization of representation, integration and strengthening for Costa Rican savings and credit cooperatives. Fedeac groups 14 financial cooperatives, together they represent 90,50% of the total Savings and Credit Cooperative Sector.

In this same sense, the cooperative is part of three Regional Unions of Cooperatives: Regional Union of Cooperatives of the South RL (Uncoosur), Regional Union of Cooperatives of Guanacaste RL (Urcogua) and Regional Union of Cooperatives of the Santos RL (Uncoosantos).

International cooperative exchange

A fundamental component in the sector refers to exchange by reinforcing knowledge, experiences and cooperative experiences. This is why, for several years, Coopealianza has been able to establish exchanges with other cooperatives, whether visiting or hosting, where collaborators and directors with counterparts from cooperatives from different countries have been able to share and result in significant growth among representatives of the cooperatives. Solidarity Economy companies.

In 2023, Coopealianza received the Intercoop Guatemala cooperative twice, the first visit was carried out in March and the second in April. On both occasions, they were attended by representatives of the cooperative, who gave an overview of how the company operates and the elements related to credit, collection and deposit operations, as well as the dynamics of corporate governance.

Intercoop Guatemala is a savings and credit cooperative that was born in the eighties with the name of El Esfuerzo Kaqchiquel RL. It emerged as a consumer cooperative, with the objective of combating poverty and illiteracy. In 2005, it changed its name to Intercoop and became a savings and credit cooperative company. Currently, Intercoop has more than 110.000 associates, 33 service points and 33 years of experience.

Employment generation

Work dignifies the human condition, allowing people to obtain the resources that allow them to build a dignified life. Coopealianza recognizes the value of work for the development of people, therefore, of the communities where it operates. For this reason, it complies with laws in the workplace, health and occupational risk insurance, the maintenance of safe work environments and all aspects of work.

At the end of July 2024, Coopealianza provides employment in dignified conditions to 700 people directly, where 51% are female personnel and 49% male, ensuring that neither gender nor any other condition other than the technical requirements of the position, are factors that influence the fact of holding a job or the remuneration of people.

In a similar vein, it is important to highlight the generation of job opportunities for people in rural areas, since Coopealianza maintains 90% of jobs in rural areas, where job opportunities present limitations compared to the rest of the country, impacting the cooperative, from its line of business, the family and local economies, as shown in the following table: