Banking and the Local Economy Bruxelles 24 march 2026

Introduction
There is an idea of banking that corresponds neither to the “showcase” branch nor to the “faceless” app. It is the bank as a civic infrastructure, capable of reading the productive fabric of society, cultivating trust, building expertise, selecting projects and supporting families and businesses over the long term. An approach that recalls, in its rigour and vision, the visionary model of Raffaele Mattioli: relationship banking, a culture of risk awareness, patient investment, and accountability to the local community. Today, that tradition must be updated to reflect the needs of local communities, starting with rural areas: open banking, AI, data, platforms, cyber risks, ESG, digital identity, hybrid advisory services – with people, families and entrepreneurs at the centre. The question is a concrete one: how do we rebuild proximity (including digital proximity) without sacrificing quality and empathy in the banking relationship, without losing sight of customer protection and the Constitutional promise of the public function of credit? And how do we prevent technology from reducing local communities to a mere score, at the expense of financial inclusion, SMEs, inland areas and widespread innovation? These are the questions we will discuss at this conference.

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