This edited volume showcases how the European cooperative banks have continued to evolve amid a
new competitive scenario that resulted from the Global Financial Crisis started in Europe in
2008. The cooperative banking paradigm has been put under an unprecedented pressure as a
consequence of factors such as the exceptionally low interest rates set by the European Central
Bank low profitability generated by traditional banking services-which are the backbone of the
cooperative banking business-and the entrance of fintech companies into the banking market.
Furthermore tightening regulation since the beginning of the crisis has produced an increased
capital and liquidity burden which in some cases have forced cooperative banks to reduce
lending to their members and customers putting under question the traditional countercyclical
role of cooperative banks in periods of crisis. For these reasons it is of the utmost value to
observe and analyse how cooperative banks have been reacting in the attempt to preserve their
unique business model and at the same time to keep providing credit to the economy. A number
of scholars active in the cooperative banking sector have been involved in this edited volume
as contributors.
