La identidad cooperativa como garantía de futuro: Las cooperativas de crédito ante la trivialización de sus principios

Co-operative credit associations have been facing for some time the problem of compatibilising the essential principals which inspire the co-operative movement with the demands of ever more complex and competitive markets. In this context a tendency can be appreciated towards a relaxation of these principals as a means of facing the competitition offered by merchantile companies and adapting themselves to the greater need for stable resources in the form of capital. Under this perspective it is aimed to realise a vision of the problem in the Co-operative credit associations, appreciating two significative cases sucha s Crédit Agricole and the British Building Societies in order to, finally, demostrate the possible responses of the Spanish group of rural savings banks.