Loans
For active members
The Mutual Association grants its members two types of loans :The reimbursements are made by monthly salary deductions.
Members who wish to borrow funds must hold a contract of employment valid for at least six months at the time of the request. Members who have a contract of employment valid for less than 6 months at the time of the request must obtain from their Human Resources Department an attestation of renewal mentioning that upon maturity, in principle, the contract will be renewed for another period of time. This attestation will be considered as part of the loan application.
Members who are on sick leave or on leave without pay or have submitted to their organization a request for a leave without pay cannot obtain a loan. They must have resumed their work at full time and/or finished the leave without pay in order to apply for a loan. Supporting documents will be requested.
Members who hold a short-term contract have the possibility to apply for a loan only if they are working for WIPO or WMO.
The maximum duration of the loan depends on the expiration date of the borrower's contract with the Organization. Members who do not hold a permanent contract will have their length of service taken into consideration in order to extend the reimbursement period beyond the expiration date of their contract.
For members who have been with their employing Organization for less than a year, the maximum duration of the loan shall not exceed the expiration date of their contract.
Members who have outstanding loan(s) are allowed to submit a new request at any time as long as they have repaid at least 1 monthly instalment on the last granted loan.
Members to whom a loan was granted by the Mutual Association and who take a leave without pay must immediately inform the Mutual Association. A copy of the administrative notice must be provided and a minimum of CHF 100 per loan and per month must to be repaid during the leave.
Members who are on sick leave must fully repay the monthly instalments.
Members who take an early retirement from their employment are obliged to reimburse their total debt at the time of departure.
Members who leave their employment at a member organization, as well as members who change duty station and will not be employed by a member organization are obliged to reimburse their total debt at the time of departure.
An insurance contracted by the Mutual Association covers the amount due on loans in the event of the borrower's death or total disability, as recognized by the organization employing him/her. When more than 20 days of sick leave have been taken during the 12 months preceding the loan application, members will be requested to submit a medical certificate attesting to their current state of health.
The Mutual Association will verify the accuracy of the loan application. If a statement is deemed to be incorrect, the Mutual Association reserves the right not to grant a loan.
In case of death or disability, the Mutual Association will verify, through the attendance records, that the member did not make a false statement related to his/her state of health at the time loans were granted. If it is the case, the outstanding debt would have to be repaid by the member, or by the heirs.
Members who do not repay their loan will have their file sent to an external collection office which will recover the amount due.
For retired members
The Mutual Association grants its retired members also two types of loans, the ordinary loan and the housing loan, as long as the collateral for the granted amount and the accrued interest are blocked in the CHF current and/or deposit account, or USD account.
The monthly repayments can be effected by means of cash, wire transfer or withdrawal from the blocked accounts only from the CHF current or deposit account. It is not possible to repay a loan by withdrawal from the USD account. Monthly instalments paid in cash or by wire transfer must be credited by the last working day of the month, failing which interest will be charged.
The minimum duration of the ordinary loan is 3 months and the maximum is 84 months.
The minimum duration of the housing loan is 24 months and the maximum is 144 months.
The interest rate on an ordinary loan is fixed for the entire duration of the loan and is at 6.50%.
The interest rate on a housing loan is fixed for the first 48 monthly instalments and will then be adjusted according to the rate in force for new housing loans. The interest rate is 3.50%.
In case of death, the Mutual Association will repay the capital due from the CHF current and/or deposit account and/or USD account deductions.
Rules applicable to the loans
Members who wish to repay their loan partially or totally in advance must send a request by email or by mail to the Mutual Association for agreement.
A partial or total repayment can be made only between the 1st and the 15th of each month. After having received the Mutual Association's agreement, members will have to make sure that the funds will be received within this period. If the funds are received after the 15th of the month, the loan repayment will be done the following month.
If the capital due exceeds CHF 30,000, and as part of the Global Programme against Money Laundering, evidence of the origin of the funds will be required before the sum will be accepted.
All deposits received for amounts over CHF 30,000 without evidence of the origin of the funds and agreement from the Mutual Association will be immediately returned to the sender. Any charge incurred will be at his/her expense.
The Mutual Association is entitled to obtain information on the borrower?s financial situation and to verify the accuracy of the information contained in the loan application, especially the sick leave indicated as well as external financial commitments.
A loan can be refused, by the decision of the Board of Directors, to members who have failed to fulfill their earlier obligations towards the Mutual Association or made incorrect statements on previous loan applications.
Members who are the subject of debt recovery proceedings may obtain a loan only in order to clear the debt as a matter of priority and must furnish proof that they have done so.
Members who do not respect their obligations towards the Mutual Association by not repaying their outstanding loan(s) will have their file sent to an external collection office.
Any refusal of a loan against which an appeal is lodged is submitted to the Board of Directors of the Mutual Association, whose ruling is final.