International Co-operative Banking Association ICBA

A sectoral organisation of the ICA

www.ica.coop/icba

ICBA Activities

• the organisation of statutory meetings (including two executive committee meetings)
• the holding of a yearly seminar in conjunction with one of it statutory meetings
• the publication of a journal to include the annual seminar presentatiations
• the provision of relevant member information and newsworthy material and,
• upon request of members, the meeting with and/or lobbying national or international groups and authorities.

• initiate a major data gathering operation aiming at promoting co-operative banking groups, on a worldwide scale, as major economic players whose distinctive socio-economic mission and humanistic values contribute greatly to the health and vitality of local communities and populations.
  
  

  This project would call upon the co-operation of other associations of financial co-operatives such as the EACB (European Association of Co-operative Banks) and others and it would also call upon ICBA's regional chapters for collecting data. It would namely draw some material from the current EACB project of praising co-operative banks' values and advantageous commercial practices but complement it to give it an international scope.
  
  The project should enable to portray co-operative banking groups as an attractive option for consumers of banking services who wish for a more humane globalisation. It should expose the types of special benefits provided by co-operative banks, their humanistic values, the social aspect of their mission, their contribution to sustainable local development as well as to job creation and preservation. The gathering of the information mentioned above should be complemented by key testimonials of world leaders and businesses who believe in the co-operative formula and can bring concrete proof of its relevance and importance in today's world. The exact form that would take the final product needs to be discussed (see priority #2). Nevertheless, the promotional information could be made available to the ICBA members, members of the co-operative banks' international community and members of the ICA to serve various purposes, nationally and internationally;

• draft and implement, with the support and collaboration of other international co-operative banking associations ( CIBP, IRU, etc.) a communication strategy to promote co-operative banks, at the international and at regional levels, as very efficient, competent and distinctive banking providers in their local environment;
  

  To implement priority actions #1 and #2, we recommend forming a temporary sub-committee made up of at least one representative from each of the existing ICBA regional committees. One representative by region could be designated. This committee would be charge to propose to the executive members of the ICBA a mandate defining the parameters of this project, the tasks to be done, the budget required and a timetable.

• energise ICBA meetings by scheduling member organisations' reports on various topics. These topics could relate to the seven co-operative principles as defined by the ICA and/or could include thematic topics such as preferred growth strategies, governance, social responsibility, etc.

  At each executive meeting, time could be set aside to benefit from short presentations by each member on the selected topic for that meeting. The various presentations translated in English could be available to all members in an electronic version. This would help the ICBA members to acquire a better knowledge of the other member organisations and of the challenges they face. It could also lead to greater inter-cooperation amongst members.

• continue to monitor and report to the members any significant development pertaining to strategies issues which apply to co-operative banks (banking standards, supervision, legislation) and consult them when required on any official position to be submitted to various international authorities;
• relay news from member organisations and regional chapters every quarter through electronic means in English (each member could cover the cost of the translation to English, when required);
• set up a contact list by organisation to facilitate bilateral discussions and co-operation. This contact list should include main contact information for the president, chief operating officer and other senior officers responsible for line functions, such as marketing strategy, electronic channels, integrated risk management, institutional affairs, youth strategy, democratic life, contacts for various subsidiaries, if applicable. This list would be submitted to the member organisations for a revision every six months.

Past Activities

Meeting Highlights