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Banco Palmas is a Brazilian community bank founded in 1998 in Conjunto Palmeiras, a neighborhood of 32,000 inhabitants located in the suburbs of Fortaleza - Ceará, Brazil operating under the principle of the "Solidarity Socio-Economy." It is the first of currently 52 similarly structured community banks - also known as "community development banks" (CDBs) - throughout Brazil. It is managed locally by the Association of Residents of Conjunto Palmeira (Associação dos Moradores do Conjunto Palmeira), known by its acronym ASMOCONP, the staff of which is mostly volunteer. Its mission is to implement programs and projects for work and income generation using solidarity economy systems primarily focused on overcoming urban and rural poverty. Its objective is to ensure micro-credits for local production and consumption with low interest rates and no requirements for registration, proof of income, or guarantor, (the neighbors guarantee the borrower's reliability). Its mission is also to provide access to banking services to residents of poorer communities who generally would not otherwise have access to them in traditional banks, based on lack of credit history or financial collateral and/or physical distance. == History == The origin of the Palmeira neighborhood dates back to the 1970s. Due to redevelopment initiatives along the coast of the city enacted by the municipal government, fishing communities and other inhabitants were uprooted and forced to move inland. The inland district, known today as Conjunto Palmeira, was devoid of basic infrastructure such as water, roads, and electricity, thereby leaving the neighborhood vulnerable to floods and other natural and economic stability problems. Furthermore, the move inland left the primarily fishing-based community without a stable source of income. In 1981, the residents came together to improve their community, thereby creating ASMOCONP. In January 1998, ASMOCONP created Banco Palmas as a strategy to face unemployment, creating locally work and income opportunities for residents. As such, Banco Palmas was created as a popular finance tool operating under the principles and values of the solidarity economy. In 2000, Banco Palmas created the social currency palmas, which circulates in local commerce. In March 2003, ASMOCONP also established the Instituto Palmas de Desenvolvimento e Socioeconomia Solidária (a.k.a. Instituto Palmas), a non-profit, civil society organization created from the experience of ASMOCONP. By 2003, the solidarity finances methodology of CDBs was being discussed in several municipalities as an effective instrument in income generation for the poor. One year later, in September 2004, the second CDB opened under the name Banco Par, in the municipality of Paracuru, Ceará, 70 kilometers from Fortaleza. By 2005, two more banks were established in the state of Espírito Santo – Banco Bem (Municipality of Vitoria) and Banco Terra (Municipality of Vila Velha). By 2008, there were 34 community banks in operation. As of February 2011, there are 52 community banks throughout 12 states in Brazil. In January 2006, (Banco Popular do Brasil ) became a partner of the Brazilian Network of Community Development Banks as a guarantor of credit lines to the CDBs, through an agreement with the National Secretariat of Solidarity Economy (''Secretaria Nacional de Economia Solidaria do MTE''). The agreement allowed not only Banco Palmas, but the entire network of community banks to have access to credit and to act as banking correspondents of ''Banco Popular do Brasil.'' During that same year, Petrobras decided to support the establishment of new CDBs in two other municipalities; adding up to twelve working CDBs in Brazil by the end of 2006. Recently, the banks Caixa Econômica Federal (a.k.a. Caixa) and BNDES have become the main financial partners of Banco Palmas - Caixa offering banking correspondent services and limited credit, and BNDES offering credit and institutional development support as of 2011. (Zurich Brasil ) has also played a substantial role in the development of the bank’s new line of insurance products, beginning with life insurance (launched in September 2010) and expanding to other programs in the coming years. From 2011, the National Program for Community Banks launched by (SENAES ) - The National Secretary of the Solidarity Economy (''Secretaria Nacional de Economia Solidária'') will be responsible for the continued growth of the Brazilian Network of Community Banks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Banco Palmas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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