The English magazine "The Banker", in an in-depth article on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the beginning of economic and financial crisis has recently analyzed the reasons, reaching the conclusion that more than exposure to risky assets, the so-called sub-prime, the main cause must be sought in the cultural change which, in previous years, had gone on to spread within the banking markets, unbalancing them activity towards increasingly speculative operations in search of profits for shareholders in a short-term perspective and to the detriment of traditional type activity towards the real economy.
That of the English periodical is further confirmation of how incomprehensible the position of those who, still today and still in authoritative newspapers, believe that the model that characterized local banks nohe past should be considered outdated and that only through a change of this model is it possible to continue to operate in favor of the territories and, in particular, of small and medium-sized enterprises and families. In fact, it is not clear why it should push for such a change given that the model worked by helping to stem the recessionary phases of the economic cycle through a highly anti-cyclical credit policy. The reasons that are often cited are those of the introduction of the new Basel 3 framework, the increase in capital requirements, the creation of the Banking Union with the centralization of numerous functions within the European Central Bank.
It appears somewhat singular that own the Italian cooperative banks are those that have had to mostly and forcibly adapt as a result of imposed political decisions and measures that have mainly penalized the banks that until now had been most committed to the communities of reference. Without considering that in the case of cooperative banks, most of them had already taken steps to raise resources to increase their capitalization before the introduction of the reform which imposed for those with over 8 billion euro of assets the forced transformation into companies for actions.
Also the wish of avoid fragmentation and migrate "tout court" towards large banking groups it seems a contradiction as it is diametrically opposed to the attempt to promote that banking biodiversity which, where it was present, guaranteed greater stability to the economy and was able to better support the productive fabric.
That the traditional banking model is still fully current also proves it the evolution that is taking place in the Fintech field. With the entry into force last January of the PSD2 (Payment Service Directive 2) regulation on electronic payments, competition on the payments market has increased thanks to the entry of new non-bank entities who should collaborate precisely with the banks themselves. This will increasingly push the latter to change their culture in order to collaborate better. It is, therefore, necessary for banks to change their hierarchical approach to a more horizontal model which contemplates a greater degree of sharing and participation, as happens precisely in cooperative or local banks where territorial roots and identification with shareholders and stakeholders favors the bank in reading customer needs and in identifying shared solutions promoted from below.
°°°° The author is the Secretary General of the National Association of Popular Banks (Assopopolari)
