The European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB) voted Priscille Szeradzki from Confederation Nationale du Crédit Mutuel (CNCM) as its president on 1 July, at its general assembly in Brussels.
Szeradzki will serve a two-year term, succeeding outgoing EACB president Daniel Quinten. She is the deputy CEO of CNCM, the central body of the French co-operative banking group Crédit Mutuel. Prior to this she served as a diplomat for the French foreign ministry, led projects and international negotiations for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and was charged with formulating key restructuring plans during the pandemic.
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“I am very honoured to have been elected president of the EACB, and would like to thank all members for their trust,” she said. “In a European context marked by many challenges, our unity will be our strength. I am deeply convinced that our association has a crucial role in fostering the assets that made co-operative and mutualist banking so resilient and successful in European territories: strong democratic governance, and the compass of solidarity, humanism and inclusion”.
Quinten, a member of the board at BVR, has now been voted one of the EACB’s two vice-presidents, alongside Vincent Maagdenberg, chief risk officer at Rabobank, who was re-elected.
Also elected to the EACB board were Sergio Gatti, general director at Federcasse; Johannes Rehulka, secretary general at Österreichischer Raiffeisenverband (ÖRV), and Alban Aucoin, head of public affairs at Crédit Agricole.
“I look forward to continuing trustful, dynamic collaboration with Priscille, driving thought leadership for the course of the co-operative banking interests,” said EACB CEO Nina Schindler, thanking the outgoing and new president for their smooth transition and support of the secretariat.
“I want to thank the secretariat and EACB members for their contributions and efforts during this important transitional period between legislative cycles, in which I had the honour of being president,” said Quinten.
Referring to the EACB’s paper Cooperative Banks’ contribution to the future of Europe, he said: “As we venture into a new mandate for EU institutions, we shall strive for streamlining regulation, achieving a more principle-based approach, and implementing more proportionate solutions. For a more competitive and united Europe, the guiding approach to rule-making should be ‘less is more’.”
The EACB is the voice of Europe’s 2,500 co-operative banks, which have 89 million members and 225 million customers.
