INCLUSION THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ITE) FISCAL CONCESSIONS AND PUBLIC/PRIVATE FUNDING FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CREATION AND MANAGEMENT Speaker Dott. Alfonso Santaniello
ETHICAL FINANCE THE PRINCIPLES Credit in all its forms is a human right Profit should be a consequence of activities based on the common good and should be equally distributed among people who participate in producing it; Maximum transparency in all operations is a founding requisite of ethical finance; Participation in the choice of company, not only by members, but also by investors
ETHICAL FINANCE CHARACTERISTICS 1/3 What qualifies ethical finance is the real cultural value associated to the capacity to give a real impulse to the economic growth of social enterprises. It proposes itself as a real alternative approach to the idea of finance, without renouncing the basic mechanisms but reformulating the reference values (the person and not capital, the idea and not the patrimony).
ETHICAL FINANCE CHARACTERISTICS 2/3 As well as risk and return, ethical finance pays attention to the reflection that the financial activity has on the so-called real economy, changing, in a more social sense, the same financial behaviour and above all, placing as an objective of funding all those activities that move in light of development which is humanly and ecologically sustainable.
ETHICAL FINANCE CHARACTERISTICS 3/3 Ethical finance is that series of tools to gather and use funds that respect the following requisites: An interest rate which is disconnected from the market: the investor has the possibility to define the rate to apply to his/her own savings choosing between a maximum set by the bank and zero; transparent management of collection of savings and uses: one gives the investor the possibility to know the functioning of the structure that manages the savings and the destination of each individual fund; a policy of use aiming to valorise people.
ETHICAL FINANCE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ETHICAL INVESTMENTS Those that propose to have an altruistic aspect as regards renouncing profit: bonds, term savings deposits, interest bearing bonds and deposit certificates; Those characterised by the sacrifice regarding the effective progress of the management of the saving collected; Those that have as an objective that of discouraging the fulfilment of non ethical activities.
ETHICAL FINANCE ETHICAL FINANCE IN ITALY (1/2) Ethical investment does not mean the donation from a part of the interests to beneficiary associations, but a loan that, even if bearing risk in mind, places the entire capital at the disposal of project in which the reference value is reflected. Ethical finance shows the passage of donations (or similar acts of generosity) to other financing hypotheses, ascribable to specialised financial credit intermediaries. It is also important to highlight that, even if the level of ethical finance represents a wider reality, that can concern both the non profit sector and the for profit sector, in Italy ethical or alternative finance and third sector financing are expressions that are perceived as strictly correlated.
ETHICAL FINANCE ETHICAL FINANCE IN ITALY (2/2) The ambiguity of the concept is mainly due to social, legislative and economic diversity in different countries, where numerous and different experiences to those of common ethical investment funds, foundations, banks or ethical merchant banks are considered to be part of ethical finance. There are also different types of ethical financial or alternative intermediaries in different countries: Not for profit associations and foundations Cooperative Societies Social economy investment societies Banks and alternative credit institutions For the greater part, all of these structures are united in the International Association of Investors in the Social Economy (INAISE), an association that groups the most significant experience of alternative credit with 43 members in 18 different countries.
ETHICAL FINANCE FUNDING FOR NOT FOR PROFIT COMPANIES On the one hand, the income deriving from opportunities, concessions and funding foreseen from normative sources such as regional laws, sector laws (e.g.: laws on the voluntary service) or funding foreseen by Community laws, and on the other, income deriving from acts of private law that is to say contributions from supporters, donations, acquisitions, leasing, production activities and sale of goods and services. The income of the second type and in particular of contributions from individuals constitute the main source of funding for the third sector. Aside from public funding, thus, a more articulated network of possibilities and potential has grown that invest the global structure of funding sources for not for profit organisations.
ETHICAL FINANCE FUNDING FOR NOT FOR PROFIT COMPANIES : CRITICIAL ASPECTS If we closely analyse the sustainability of not for profit companies, the evident financial tension of the same is evident: the difficulty of the third sector to maintain constant in time, funding sources and to multiply the number and type of financial interlocutors is undeniable.
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS 1/5 The technique currently used to collect funds (mailing, door to door, sponsorship, unsecured patronage) seem to have reached a degree of increasing obsolescence. In medium sized and large not for profit organisations, there is the vocational profile of fund raiser, characterised by all the opportunities offered by law and by a strong capacity to collect funds from public and private subjects exploiting in the best possible way possibilities offered by marketing.
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS 2/5 In the graph there is a list of the most noted offers of ethical products, divided according to the major or minor specialisation of intervention of the offering intermediary
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS 3/5 Non specialised intermediaries, or rather intermediaries who decide to introduce among the products and services they offer, some other options of an ethical nature, justified in various ways from this point of view and motivated in different ways. The activity undertaken in the funding for the not for profit sector by the non specialist intermediaries has been defined as a form of "channelling of donations" or rather an alternative way to increase the contribution in favour of different beneficiary initiatives; Specialist Intermediaries, or rather intermediaries that are constituted with the aim of funding not for profit organisations. They can be considered financial intermediaries such as COSIS, and credit intermediaries such as Banca Etica and Mag;
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS 4/5 Other intermediaries, Whose action towards the not for profit world, is at the moment being defined. Among these are Banking Foundations. The growth of these banking foundations is an extremely interesting element for the prospective of the not for profit world in Italy. Nevertheless, the physiognomy and the role of foundations, even in the presence of Law n. 461 of 23rd December 1998, still seems uncertain, given the lack of a general and clear framework of the social economy in our country.
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS 5/5 Instead of looking at the offer of financial resources to use "ethically" there is a notable diversity of positions. On the one extreme, there are people ready to simply donate part of their active interest matured in current accounts or investment funds to well-known not for profit companies; at the other extreme there are individuals who have decided to accept a lower wage in exchange, for both the guarantee that this is reflected in concessionary interest rates offered to not for profit companies, and greater operative transparency for the intermediary.
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS : DIFFICULTIES FOR INTERMEDIARIES 1/2 The need to predispose tools to collect from the lowest nominal or effective rate but from the most contained management conditions; in order to attract the investor however, it is important that the latter does not conceive the product simply as a new marketing tool but the financial effort must be perceivable, or even only the organisational one, that the intermediary supports together with his/her own client.
ETHICAL FINANCE TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY USED TO COLLECT FUNDS : DIFFICULTIES FOR INTERMEDIARIES 2/2 Successively one should identify a studied ad hoc procedure to evaluate not for profit organisations with which one wants to have funding relationships. Practically, it is necessary to review the indices and parameters of evaluation generally adopted for not for profit companies, seeking to adapt them to these new realities, as well as identifying new ones created on the basis of specific characteristics of each type of not for profit organisations with which one has relationships.
THE BANK AND ETHICAL FINANCE SUPPORT OF BANKS TO THE NOT FOR PROFIT WORLD Banks support with credit activity tools, in particular via not for profit organisations, human, social and economic activities for the weaker groups of the population in most disadvantaged areas. Making the investor responsible for knowing the destination and the method of use of his/her money stimulates the credit beneficiary to develop its autonomous and entrepreneurial capacity with project responsibility.
FINANCIAL ENGINEERING Financial Institutions are dedicating a lot of attention to develop new financial engineering tools peculiar to the social economy, via the offer of innovative assistance services from these points of view: financial economic entrepreneurial and social development
INNOVATIVE TOOLS The innovativeness of Ethical Banking tools is manifested in terms of: Physical proximity to enterprises via the profile of banker pedlar ready to undertake financial operations at home or where physically needed Common interests with the enterprises and with the territorial system via the profile of company consultant.
FISCAL CONCESSIONS TO SOCIAL ENTERPRISES (1/2) Partial or total non taxability of profits destined to indivisible funds and profits returned to members in the form of refunds or wage integrations IRES concessions IRES for social, agricultural and productionwork cooperatives. Deductibility of refunds given to members also via the increase of quotas of social capital previously undersigned. segue
FISCAL CONCESSIONS TO SOCIAL ENTERPRISES(2/2) Exemption of direct taxes on profit destined within certain limits to the revaluation of the capital quotas previously undersigned and paid by members, specific concessions for social cooperatives as regards VAT, stamp duty, governmental tax concessions, IRAP concessions for members who bring money funding to the cooperative, to fulfil a mission, in the limits foreseen by the current law.
BRIEF PANORAMA OF LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY - Law 381/1991 (Distinction of social cooperatives) Type A Cooperative (social medical and educational services) Type B Cooperative (employment insertion of disadvantaged people) Type C Cooperative with mixed object (both types of activities cited) Social Consortia (consortia whose social basis is formed by social cooperatives- less than 70%) - Law 31 January 1992 n. 59 New norms concerning cooperative societies: Obligation to return 3% of cooperative society profits to mutualistic funds - Decree Law n. 460/97 Constitutive Law on ONLUS
LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) Law 448/98 - art. 51 Concessions for social cooperatives Finances new social cooperatives in industrial, agricultural, handicraft and services to enterprises sectors Offers financial support and tutoring to already existing social cooperatives that present projects to consolidate and develop their own activities.
LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) Decree 185/2000 Title I (incentives in favour for self employment): Beneficiaries: New social, or already existing social cooperatives, characterised by: - Presence of disadvantaged groups - Not disadvantaged components in a majority of number and capital of young people between 18 and 35 years of age - Residents in Objective 1 and 2 Regions of Structural Funds, in so called phasing out areas (those admitted to a transitory regime), and more generically in areas that present a notable imbalance between supply and demand of labour, as identified by the Ministry of Labour. Cooperatives that operate in medical and educational sectors are excluded
LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) - Initiatives admissible: Production of goods in agriculture Supply of services to enterprises - Initiatives excluded: Services to people and public administrations Socio-medical activities Commercial and tourism activities
LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) - FINANCING FOR INVESTMENT Contributions without security Prime rate mortgage (in Objective 1 regions up to 80-90% of the investment; in the centre north up to 60-70% of investment) - FINANCING FOR MANAGEMENT (not foreseen for agricultural sector) Contributions without security in the respect of the de minimis threshold equal to 100.000,00 to cover management costs for first three years - FINANCING FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING AND/OR ASSISTANCE Contributions without security in the respect of the de minimis threshold to cover training and technical assistance costs
LEGISLATION ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) FERTILITY PROGRAMME Programme to support social enterprises undertaken by SVILUPPO ITALIA in collaboration with the Welfare Ministry - Territorial coverage: national territory - Beneficiaries: Social cooperatives and their consortia - Objective: Offer real accompaniment services to set up new entrepreneurial not for profit initiatives - Financial concessions: Contributions equal to double the social capital undersigned and paid up to a max 2.000.000,00, to face investment and employment contributions on general costs up to a max of 80.000,00 in 3 years, contribution for guidance, training and tutoring activities up to a max 50.000,00
Public and private subsidies for social enterprise creation and management Data from 2002-2003 529 projects presented 160 companies funded 1228 new jobs (of which 696 disadvantaged workers) 35.662.000 Euros of investment 29.294.000 Euros of public funds used 11.700.00 Euros of social capital 42.600.000 Euros of turnover in 2004. To conclude, here are two indicators: 100% of survival of companies financed, after at least three years of creation 42 new jobs for a million Euros of public funds used
Public and private subsidies for social enterprise creation and management The initiatives funded are distributed at national level as follows: Abruzzo:1 Marche: 9 Basilicata:1 Molise: 2 Calabria:13 Piedmont:5 Campania:18 Puglia:21 Emilia Romagna:5 Sardinia: 6 Friuli Venezia Giulia:1 Sicily: 17 Lazio:16 Tuscaya:14 Lombardia:16 Umbria:8 Liguria:4 Veneto:3
Public and private subsidies for social enterprise creation and management Enterprises sustained by Fertility operate in different fields of activity, among which: support to minors and families, differentiated waste collection, housing for the disabled, crèches, environmental collection, canteen services, information centres for old people, micro-crèches, psycho-social re-educational assistance
LEGISLATION FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) Law 59/92: dispositions in favour of cooperatives and social cooperatives. At the Ministry of Labour there is a Fund to promote new cooperative and social societies, fed by 3% of annual profits of all Italian cooperatives not members of category associations, created to fund projects that promote and develop cooperation. Each year there is a call for proposals published. It is advisable to request information from the General management of cooperation in the Labour Ministry. The sum funded is not defined, but varies from year to year (In1998, it was 300 million). Initiatives to promote self employment and entrepreneurship have also been promoted at regional and local level.
LEGISLATION FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY (concessions) Convicts. Law. 193/2000. Law passed to favour working activities of convicts. The convicts admitted to alternative measures of detention and to external work are considered disadvantaged groups. This is an important law for social cooperatives that are involved in helping disadvantaged groups back into employment: fiscal concessions are foreseen for these companies that take on convicts and for whom they provide training.
FUNDING SOURCES FOR THIRD SECTOR 3.1 Public funding The most important Public funding is national and community. Among national funding sources, there are: - Funds for volunteer service on basis of article 15 of law 266/91 on the volunteer service; - National funding for volunteers working on civil protection, granted by the Department of civil protection of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers; - National fund for infancy and adolescence, on basis of Law n.285/97.
SOCIETIES THAT SUPPORT SOCIAL ENTERPRISES COSIS S.p.A. Compagnia di sviluppo delle imprese sociali is a not for profit S.p.A, founded in 1985 from collaboration by the Ente Cassa di risparmio di Roma (Rome savings bank) and various subjects from social economy with the aim of supporting social initiatives for the development of employment and provides social enterprises with technical and financial assistance. Operates as a development funding house and as well as funding medium-long term it makes real capital investment in projects of social enterprise that are able to reach good levels of self financing such as to allow the payment of capital invested. Furthermore it gives not for profit enterprises the managerial capacity, entrepreneurial experience and know how of most significant realities in the Italian profit world.
SOCIETIES THAT SUPPORT SOCIAL ENTERPRISES BANCA ETICA has been operating since 1999, with the objective of supporting the not for profit world and the social economy. It funds social cooperation, international cooperation, environmental protection, civil society, exercising normal banking activities via traditional banking tools. The characteristics of Banca Etica products are: Participation of client in choice of investment: from the act of deposit, the client can choose in which sector he/she wants his/her savings to go: Own choice of rate: the client can choose own rate, accepting a payment of the deposits at an inferior rate to that generally offered by the institute. Possibility to invest savings in so called Responsible values, or rather in funds that invest exclusively in enterprise, supranational organisms and states operating in the social sector.
SOCIETIES THAT SUPPORT SOCIAL ENTERPRISES BANKING FOUNDATIONS that fund projects of social utility in the field of scientific research, education, art, protection of cultural and environmental heritage, health, assistance to socially disadvantaged groups.
BANCA POPOLARE DELL EMILIA ROMAGNA AND THE SOCIAL WORLD (1/5) Banca popolare dell'emilia Romagna, from its origin, has placed credit and finance at the services of the economy and people. Support to the social economy and voluntary services are part of the Bank s patrimony of values, that has maintained its cooperative from a strong territorial network. segue
BANCA POPOLARE DELL EMILIA ROMAGNA AND THE SOCIAL WORLD (2/5) Current accounts for the third sector Bper, has studied a series of current accounts with concessionary rates for companies working in the third sector: onlus and similar, non commercial entities, staff of not for profit companies. Onlus and similar The account foresees the exemption of stamp duty on bank statements and banking contracts. The following can open this account: ONLUS; Voluntary Associations; Social Cooperatives, NGOs. Non commercial entities Cultural Associations, sports and recreational associations can access these Staff of not for profit companies Social Cooperatives after having presented suitable documentation can access these segue
BANCA POPOLARE DELL EMILIA ROMAGNA AND THE SOCIAL WORLD (3/5) Ethical prepaid cards BPER together with Emergency, Telefono Azzurro, WWF, Rock No War and the Missionary Cooperation Centre of the Cappuccini Brothers, hasa series of cards in partnership. The bank pays the associations a high quota of the price of each card. For each transaction (withdrawal or deposit) made with an ethical card, BPER gives the partner association a sum of money. In this way the more you use the card the more you sustain the company. segue
BANCA POPOLARE DELL EMILIA ROMAGNA AND THE SOCIAL WORLD (4/5) Banca Etica and Banca popolare dell'emilia Romagna Bper, always involved in funding at the service of the economy and social promotion, was among the first credit Institutes to sustain (as a member and as a partner) Banca Etica, since 1986. Thanks to the agreement of commercial partnership with Banca Etica, at Bper counters it is possible to undersign Banca Etica shares, deposit certificates, bonds and common investment funds. Banca Etica Common Funds - Etica Sgr Bper distributes ethical common investment funds of Etica Sgr, the savings management company of Banca Etica. The funds respond to the most severe investment evaluation criteria. Ethcial quality is certified by Ethibel, an independent company specialised in the ethical selection of state and company bonds. segue
BANCA POPOLARE DELL EMILIA ROMAGNA AND THE SOCIAL WORLD (5/5) Not for profit on the Bper site offers to beneficiary companies Bper offers this space to all the Not for Profit companies that are clients of the Bank that undertake "fund raising", or rather gather funds for initiatives of a humanitarian, social nature etc. The insertion is completely free, after analysis of requisites of the company by the Bank. The objective is that of publicising the initiative to as wide as possible a potentially interested public. Do good free of charge! This is a programme, in collaboration with UNO, where each person can do good in a simple and free way: all you need to do is go to this site (http://thehungersite.com) and click on the button donate free food"; "banners" of videos will appear that is sponsors publicity. For the simple fact that each person clicks on the button "donate free food", the sponsors will automatically pay the money needed to feed a person suffering form hunger in the world today.