Possono esistere “banche etiche”? La nuova definizione normativa di “operatori di finanza etica e sostenibile” tra interesse sociale, scopo di lucro e normativa bancaria post-crisi

“Ethical banks” are banks conducting banking activity with the aim of achieving social, environmental and other “good” results. In Italy, the bank license is conditional, among other things, to the adoption of a corporate form (joint-stock company or cooperative company), raising the problematic issues of pursuing “altruistic” objectives, other than the maximization of profit, through a traditionally for profit and “egoistic” legal form, as already debated in the benefit corporation and social enterprise contexts. Nonetheless, in the area of “ethical banks”, the picture is complicated by the peculiarity of banks’ corporate governance: bank executives, in fact,need also to consider the stability and depositor protection objectives as well as face stringent and detailed post-crisis rules. The paper critically examines the regulatory definition of “ethical and sustainable finance operators” recently introduced in the Italian Banking Consolidated Statute, under the light of the above mentioned governance issues and post-crisis banking regulation, with examples and case studies from the Italian “ethical banks” market.