Brussels, 25 April 2024 – The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) is pleased to announce the release of its Annual Report, offering a detailed overview of the past year's achievements.
In the dense regulatory and supervisory framework for global finance, the EACB unfailingly voiced cooperative banks’ concerns in the European legislative debate.
The 2023 Annual Report shines a bright light on the wide range of advocacy outreach championed by the EACB - from banking regulation to sustainable finance, AI, and the digital euro.
Daniel Quinten, EACB President, stated: “EACB and its members played an important role advocating for regulation that reflects cooperative banks’ structure and embedded values, their link with members and the local economy, and their contribution to a diverse and thriving banking sector.”
The EACB Secretariat tackled many avenues. It effectively communicated the distinct advantages of cooperative banks for financial stability and the economy as a whole. Concurrently, it infused the cooperative viewpoint on pressing issues, like Basel 3 implementation, standard-setting and sustainability reporting, retail investment strategy, the open finance and the AML package, in debates with legislators and regulators. These undertakings were supported by expert input from member banks, highlighting the collective influence of the cooperative baking sector.
“Faced with mounting pressure from the European Commission to finalise legislative files before the end of its mandate, the EACB sharpened its advocacy response and intensified certain Working Group activities, relying on the highly skilled experts in all our Working Groups and our competent and engaged Secretariat staff.” declared Nina Schindler, CEO of the EACB.
The EACB culminated the year on a high, enlarging its cooperative family by welcoming a new associate member from Australia, the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM).
The full Annual Report 2023 is available for download on the EACB website.