“Not all banks are the same and neither are the local ones: the link with the territory is not enough, which obviously remains a fundamental strength but which must be interpreted in an efficient and far-sighted manner, knowing how to say yes when the projects convince us and also knowing how to say no when the conditions for disbursing loans, mortgages and credit do not exist". This was stated on Saturday by Fabrizio Mannari, director general of the Bcc of Castagneto Carducci, concluding the first training meeting of the Alta Maremma cooperative credit bank in Marina di Bibbona on the Livorno coast on the theme "The local bank between crisis and recession".
Mannari argued that the crisis puts all banks to the test but that there is a way and a way to react and that his bank is inspired by a virtuous model typical of the local banks of the independent Cabel circuit which has made it possible to collect comforting results also in 2011 and to consolidate relationships with shareholders, customers, employees and the local area "of which we do not want to passively absorb all the thrusts but select them and become the engine of growth". For the director of the Bcc of Castagneto, the attention paid to the harvest, "essential for growth", is decisive. which must be fueled by remunerative rates. In 2011, the Bcc of Castagneto Carducci increased its deposits by 10% and loans by 8%, clearly above the sector average, and limited non-performing loans to 1,5% of assets. “Today our activity is entirely aimed at providing credit selectively to households and businesses that invest in creating jobs and developing new technologies: we have grown a lot in recent years but we have no intention of stopping, knowing however that we can make a step by step".
Before Mannari, three renowned economists intervened, such as Paolo Onofri (University of Bologna and Prometeia) who indicated the end of the crisis in 2019, such as Lorenzo Gai (University of Florence) according to whom "more than a credit crunch there is a deposit crunch” and like Pietro Alessandrini (Polytechnic University of the Marches) who developed an extensive analysis on cooperative credit banks.
The CEO of Cabel Holding, an independent network of services to banks set up, also took the floor, according to which local banks can do a lot in times of crisis but must know how to avoid conflicts of interest with and in the territory and be inspired by management models efficient and innovative.
