Isidro Fainé has been appointed president of the new Social and Philanthropic Council promoted by the European Association of Savings Banks and Retail Banks (ESBG) and by the World Savings Banks and Retail Banks Institute (WSBI), entities of which Fainé is vice president and president, respectively.
For his part, the president of the Association of German Savings Banks, Helmut Schleweis, has been appointed honorary president of the Social and Philanthropic Council. The appointments must be ratified by the WSBI council, which will take place in the coming weeks, according to CECA in a statement.
The new Social and Philanthropic Council was created within the framework of the WSBI board of directors held in Marrakech last October. Its main functions will be to promote the social work carried out by the members of the WSBI, giving visibility to the entity’s actions in the social field. It will also encourage the exchange of experiences and knowledge and promote cooperation between members to develop joint initiatives.
WSBI members as a whole dedicate $2.8 billion annually to social work and corporate social responsibility around the world.
Foundations linked to the banks and savings banks that make up the WSBI may form part of this council, such as the La Caixa Foundation, chaired by Fainé, which will study forms of collaboration with the new organization.
The WSBI, which will celebrate its centenary in 2024, brings together 96 members from 71 countries and includes almost 6,400 financial institutions and retail banks, with a total of 2.1 million clients and 13.25 trillion dollars in assets.