Three banks in France, Spain and Italy are coming together to form Europe’s first ethical bank. The idea behind this ethical bank is to create a new financing mechanism to support the growing social economy. This ethical bank will adopt the status of a European co-operative company.

The project of an alternative bank has been discussed since 2001 in the framework of European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks (FEBEA). Now La Nef (an organisation in the field of the social economy in France), Banca Etica (Italy's first ethical bank) and Fiare in the Basque region of Spain will come together in a new entity: Banca Etica Europa. The three partners have adopted a joint manifesto which sets the principles and guidelines for the activities of the European Ethical Bank.

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