The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Dec. 12, edition that Vancity, Canada's largest credit union, is looking to fill gaps in small and niche markets after two of the country's big six banks made large acquisitions in Western Canada, the chief of the Vancouver-based financial institution said in an interview. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Canada's highly regulated banking sector has been further consolidating since No. 1 lender Royal Bank of Canada bought HSBC's domestic operations for $13.5-billion (U.S.) and National Bank proposed to buy Canadian Western Bank for $5-billion (U.S.) in the past year. The acquisitions, and other deals in the credit union space, reduce the number of options for consumers in Western Canada, Vancity's chief executive officer Wellington Holbrook said in an interview. "That s why I think there is a huge opportunity for credit unions, in general, to step up and fill that void," he said on Tuesday. Had it not been acquired, HSBC would have been the largest headquartered financial institution in British Columbia while Canadian Western Bank would have been one of the largest in the region. Vancity has nearly 600,000 clients and $36-billion (U.S.) in assets.