Cooperative banks have traditionally played a central role in the economic and social development of their members and of the territories where they operate, while remaining stable, profitable and competitive economic entities. Many theoretical and empirical analyses on cooperative banks have been conducted by policymakers, academics and practitioners in order to investigate the reasons for this performance; but these studies have not produced unambiguous results and, in the meantime, have not exhausted all the arguments which dominate this issue. Moreover, while cooperative banks share specific common roots – that is, cooperation, mutuality, locality, member-ownership, ethics, solidarity, social cohesion, etc. – their business models have evolved differently over the centuries and within each country or continent.