Banca Etica

Banca Etica (full legal name BANCA POPOLARE ETICA SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA PER AZIONI O IN FORMA ABBREVIATA BANCA ETICA O BPE, also known as BPE) is a cooperative bank operating in Italy and Spain. It was created as a collective project by individuals and organizations seeking a credit institution grounded in ethical finance. Its origins are linked to Italy’s MAG self-management finance cooperatives and to the work of volunteers, aid workers and pacifists. The bank formally came into being on 8 March 1999, according to the supplied French-language account of its history. The bank presents its approach through principles including transparency, participation, sobriety, efficiency and attention to the non-economic consequences of economic activity. Its cooperative governance follows the “one head, one vote” principle: members have equal voting rights in the General Assembly regardless of how many shares they hold. The bank describes itself as independent and cooperative, and frames finance as a means of social participation and change. Banca Etica uses savings to finance projects in areas including welfare, the social economy, environmental protection, innovation, international cooperation and culture. Its stated policy is to finance projects with positive social and environmental impacts. The bank says that it publishes all of its loans on its website, presenting this as a means for customers and the public to verify how funds are used. Its homepage also states that it does not finance activities including fossil-fuel sources, weapons, intensive livestock farming, gambling, or countries that violate human rights. The institution offers mainstream banking products and services through branches and financial advisers across Italy, as well as online services. Its activities and membership model are supported by local volunteer-member groups that promote ethical finance and participation in economic democracy. The official site reports that the bank operates in Italy and Spain and describes its customer base as including individuals, organizations and businesses. It also presents Banca Etica as the first and still only bank in Italy fully dedicated to ethical finance. Banca Etica is a cooperative rather than a listed bank owned by traditional investors. Its mission combines banking services with careful lending choices, public transparency and member participation. In February 2003, the bank created Etica SGR, an ethical investment fund manager. From 2006 to 2010, it worked with French partner La Nef and Spanish partner Fiare Banca Ética on an attempt to build a European cooperative ethical bank; the project was later abandoned.

Banca Etica grew out of a collective effort to create a financial institution based on ethical finance. The official account describes its origins as a shared project involving individuals and organizations, with roots in the MAG self-management finance cooperatives and in the activity of volunteers, aid workers and pacifists. The institution’s stated purpose was to make finance a tool for participation and social promotion, rather than treating lending as a purely financial decision. The bank formally came into being on 8 March 1999, according to the supplied French-language account. Its cooperative structure established a democratic governance model in which members participate in the General Assembly on an equal basis under the rule “one head, one vote,” irrespective of the number of shares held. The official account describes transparency, participation, sobriety, efficiency and attention to non-economic consequences as central ethical-finance principles. Banca Etica’s lending model directs accumulated savings toward projects in welfare, the social economy, environmental protection, innovation, international cooperation and culture. It describes its financing as limited to projects with positive social and environmental impacts. The bank says it is the only bank in Italy that publishes all its loans online, making the use of funds publicly verifiable. Its homepage states that it assigns no financing to fossil-fuel sources, weapons, intensive livestock farming, gambling or countries that violate human rights. The bank developed a service model combining branches and financial advisers across Italy with online banking. Its official account also describes local volunteer-member groups that foster community relationships, promote ethical-finance culture and encourage participation in economic democracy. The bank operates in Italy and Spain and serves individuals, organizations and businesses. In February 2003, Banca Etica created Etica SGR, an ethical investment fund manager. From 2006 to 2010, it worked with La Nef in France and Fiare Banca Ética in Spain on a proposed European cooperative ethical bank. The supplied historical account says that this initiative was later abandoned. Banca Etica remains presented by its official site as a cooperative bank dedicated to ethical finance, combining conventional banking services with selective lending, transparency and member participation.

• 2003

  Etica SGR created

  In February 2003, Banca Etica created Etica SGR, an ethical investment fund manager.

• 1999

  Banca Popolare Etica formally established

  The bank formally came into being on 8 March 1999, according to the supplied French-language account.

• Origins in Italy’s ethical-finance cooperative movement

• European cooperative ethical-bank project

  From 2006 to 2010, Banca Etica worked with La Nef in France and Fiare Banca Ética in Spain on a proposed European cooperative ethical bank; the initiative was later abandoned.

A member-governed cooperative bank focused on ethical finance, transparent lending and projects with positive social and environmental impact.

• Banking products and services

  The bank says it offers the main banking products and services, with branches, financial advisers and online service.

• Loans and project finance

  Financing is directed toward projects in welfare, the social economy, environmental protection, innovation, international cooperation and culture.

• Etica SGR

  An ethical investment fund manager created by Banca Etica in February 2003.

• Member governance under one head, one voteOther

• Selective financing policyOther

• European ethical-bank initiative discontinuedOther

1. 1Banca Etica: l'interesse più alto è quello di tuttibancaetica.it
2. 2About us - Banca Eticabancaetica.it
3. 3Über uns - Banca Eticabancaetica.it
4. 4Banca Popolare Eticafr.wikipedia.org
5. 5Banca Eticawikidata.org