In a curious parallel to New Zealand’s political landscape, the British Conservative party won power from the British Labour party in 2010 after spending three terms in opposition. Their flagship policy for this election was “The Big Society”, which is relevant because it has a lot to say about cooperatives. One of the fundamental tenets of The Big Society is that increases in British government spending, particularly under previous Labour governments, eroded national productivity and ...

Mr Anand Sinha, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India spoke on the occasion of the launch of the Financial Inclusion program of Cosmos Bank at Pune recently. Since the speech encompassed many areas of Urban Cooperative Banks operation we produce below the text of speech for readers’ benefit Shri Shashikant Bugde, Chairman, Shri Krishnakumar Goyal, Vice-Chairman,  Dr. Mukund Abhyankar and other Directors of the Cosmos Bank, Shri Sudhir Thakre, Secretary, Rural Development, Govt. of ...

The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, recognising an alternative economic model combining productivity and social responsibility. Cooperatives first appeared in the mid-19th century in Britain, spurred by tensions born of the industrial revolution. Today they comprise more than one billion members around the world and employ more than 100 million people. In recent years, their turnover has exceeded €1,000 billion (SFr1,214 billion) in sectors as varied ...