Economia

German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation

Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband e.V.

The Origins of the German Cooperative Movement
Founding Fathers: Friedrich-Wilhelm RAIFFEISEN (1818 – 1888)         worked in rural areas tried to reduce poverty by forming charitable organisations no sustainable results by charity developed idea of self-help organised self-helporganisations for small farmers problem: access to credit 1864: Raiffeisen sets up first savings and credit coop starting-point for commercial cooperatives • access to credit • mobilisation of savings • self-help institution

The Origins of the German Cooperative Movement

Hermann SCHULZE – DELITZSCH (1808 – 1883)  worked in urban areas  similar approach as Raiffeisen  organised self-helporganisations for small craftsmen  aim of coops: support the individual activities of the members of a coop (bulk-buying, banking)

The Origins of the German Cooperative Movement
Rapid growth of coop’s in Germany: 1870 80 coop’s 1889 1.600 coop’s 1925 21.000 coop’s 1870ies some coop’s in crisis management problems Raiffeisen and Schulze-Delitzsch introduce regular audit of coop’s 1889National Cooperative Code: Legal framework for coop’s as companies; Regular Audits required 1890 – 1920ies steady growth of the cooperative organisation 1920ies again coop’s in crisis 1934 Amendment of Cooperative Act: Mandatory Audit for coop’s by Cooperative Auditing Federations

The Banking System in Germany
European Central Bank & Deutsche Bundesbank Federal Financial Services SupervisoryOffice (BaFin)

Universal banks
Commercial banks (252) • Big banks • Regional banks and other commerial banks • Branches of foreign banks • Postbank Cooperative bank sector (1,337) • Cooperative banks (Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks) Savings bank sector (489) • Public Savings banks • Central giro institutions (Landesbanks)

Specialized banks (68)
Private bank institutions • Private mortagebanks • Banks with special functions • Investment companies • Private building and loan assoc. • Guarantee banks and other banks Public bank institutions • Public mortage banks • Banks with special functions • Public building and loan assoc.

• cooperative central institutions

31.12. 2004

The Cooperative Sector in Germany (overview)
Cooperative Banks  1,335 Cooperative Banks with 14,554outlets  2 Cooperative Central Banks  30.0 Million Clients, 15.5 Million members Rural Raiffeisen Cooperatives  3,211 Raiffeisen Cooperatives, 24 Central Companies  36.4 Billion ¤ Turnover Small-scale Industry Commodity and Service Cooperatives  1,000 Cooperatives, 243,000 members, 7 Central Cooperatives  85.0 Billion ¤ Turnover Housing Cooperatives  1,961 Cooperatives, 2.9 Million members 2.15 Million apartments and houses Consumer Cooperatives  85 Cooperatives, 970 outlets, 950,000 members  2.0 Billion ¤ Turnover

The Cooperative Sector in Germany

National level

26 Central and 26 Central and Specialized Specialized Companies Companies

Regional level

8 Regional Auditing Federations 21 Raiffeisen 21 Raiffeisen Central Coop‘s Central Coop‘s
Local level 3,211Raiffeisen Coope3,211 Raiffeisen Cooperatives incl. 801 agricult. ratives incl. 801 agricult. production Coop‘s production Coop‘s 249 with banking activit. 249 with banking activit.

5 Specialized Federations 77Central Coop‘s Central Coop‘s

11Regional Regional Central Bank Central Bank

35 35 Specialized Specialized Regional Regional Companies Companies

1,335 Volksbanks and 1,335 Volksbanksand Raiffeisenbanks with Raiffeisenbanks with 14,554 outlets 14,554 outlets 249 with agric. commerce 249 with agric. commerce

1,000 Small-scale 1,000 Small-scale Industry Commodity and Industry Commodity and Service Cooperatives Service Cooperatives

The Cooperative Financial Services Network (Finanzverbund)
National Cooperative Central Bank

DZ-Bank
Regional Cooperative Central Bank...