1 1 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 General Assembly Cooperatives Europe Workshop 2 – Influencing policies in Europe Warsaw, 4 April 2014 Financing cooperative projects Juan Sergio Lopez Federcasse – Federazione italiana delle Banche di Credito Cooperativo

2 2 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 Since the beginning of the financial crisis credit to SMEs has become more difficult, in particular in countries that have experienced economic recession As of today the credit crunch is adding to the difficult economic situation Main issues Source: Alleanza delle Cooperative Italiane – Rapporto Congiunturale 1/2014

3 3 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 In general the credit tightening is becoming less stringent in Europe Main issues But the process of deleveraging in the banking sector means that bank credit for the real economy may not return to the past levels Source: European Central Bank, Bank Lending Survey (January 2014) Changes in credit standards for loans to entprs Still scarce available data on financing of cooperatives

4 4 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 To ease the present and future financing constraints it may be useful to point out possible areas in which specific policies can be explored 1.Relations with banks 2.Financing instruments 3.Competences 4.Risk minimization Policies and actions

5 5 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 Which are the policies and actions that coops can undertake in order to improve their performance in these fields? 1.Relations with banks: improve the ability of banks to properly evaluate coops; Better knowledge of bank staff but also better tools; example of CRESO project: a specific scoring model for social coops Policies and actions

6 6 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 Which are the policies and actions that coops can undertake in order to overcome these issues? 1.Relations with banks: increase relations with coop and local banks Policies and actions Italy - Credit to cooperatives and non profit (market shares)

7 7 Warsaw, 4 April Financing instruments: enlarge the range of financial intruments available to coop; examples: Minibonds Demand deposit account (CTM consortium get more than 90% of its funding – more than 12 mil - with this instrument; credit line from banks for liquidity risk) Crowd-funding (more than 500 platforms; estimeted 2.8 bill. raised) Policies and actions

8 8 Warsaw, 4 April Competences: team up with trade associations to get support and maximize the success of the project; example Policies and actions To bundle credit, guarantees, business support in a single package Particularly suitable for start ups

9 9 Warsaw, 4 April Taming the risk: private and public guarantee funds; examples: Central Guarantee Fund for SMEs Policies and actions

Warsaw, 4 April Taming the risk: private and public guarantee funds; example Mutual guarantee system Policies and actions

1 11 Warsaw, 4 April 2014 THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Juan Sergio Lopez