Given a movement that has attained the makings of some kind of critical mass, there a number of tools that could be used to extend the movement's reach into the banking sector.

One such tool, pioneered by Vermont National Bank in the form of its "Socially Responsible Banking Fund", would be a separate memorandum banking fund operating within a number of participating banks. The members of this banking fund would be the depositors. The depositors would approve of the fund's lending critieria, priorities and guidelines as well as electing a board of directors for the fund. Banks would lend on the basis of these deposits according to the criteria, priorities, guidelines and policies set by fund depositors and the fund board of directors.

This comes about as close, in the United States anyway, to a painless way to create the advantages of being a credit union while also taking full advantage of the flexibilities of commercial banking without actually owning a bank.

Of course, once such a fund gets a certain size the likelihood that the fund members will seek to capitalize the fund through bank ownership will increase, and so the opportunity of creating a number of cooperative banks increases as well.

En fait, j'ai vérifier et la Loi québécoise interdit les coopératives d'investissement (comme je le suggérais), et donne aussi un monopole à Desjardins pour les coopératives de crédit. Pourquoi?