The first ethical finance label created in France and only solidarity-based finance label, the Finansol label is awarded to solidarity-based savings products of all kinds (offered by banks, investment funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and employee savings accounts). Introduced in 1997, the label is largely based on transparency and solidarity criteria, as well as various management aspects, the label provides security for solidarity-oriented investors that the assets they place through intermediaries will indeed serve to finance projects with strong social and/or environmental impact. In 2018, the Finansol label was awarded to more than 160 recipients.

Accessing the solidarity-based finance allows the social enterprises to increase their working capital. The business models of the companies that benefit from solidarity savings are based on diversified financial resources. Some of their activities require substantial funds, notably in the real estate and land management sectors (for example, highly social housing, agricultural projects, etc.). This resource also guarantees the independence of the project, thanks to more diversified categories of shareholders. Solidarity-based enterprises and others wishing to receive financing from solidarity-based finance vehicles must first receive an administrative seal of approval (renewable every five years). The company or fund can have any legal form, but must respect the following criteria: - Unlisted company - Sustainable business model - Primarily engaged in socially-oriented activities: o addressing the needs of populations or communities at risk: unemployment, those living in unstable housing conditions… o developing sustainable activities that contribute to addressing environmental concerns: renewable energy, organic farming... - Limited profitability: Profit can and should be expected, but mainly as a way of further expanding the company’s growth, rather than as an objective in and of itself o at least 50% of the profit should be re-invested in the company, remaining profit can be distributed to investors, o reasonable salary compensation, including at the executive level. The association examines the characteristics of the organisation and its motivations for joining the group of solidarity-based finance players, while the label Committee focuses on the savings product applying to be labelled. Each organisation that wants to be labelled needs the due following labelling process, encompassing different phases to assure that the criteria are respected: sending an application form to Finansol for labelling a product, general interview with the head of the label etc. In 2017, the solidarity-based finance actors have invested 352,4 M€ (+25%) in the financing of associations and social enterprises with a high social/environmental impact, in the solidarity-based land trust (≈ “foncière solidaire”), in the developing countries, and in social and environmental loans

1 - Finansol publications and solidarity-based finance dissemination Finansol is an association regrouping the French solidarity-based finance stakeholders. With the objective to disseminate the knowledge and expertise of the solidarity-based finance mechanisms, the Finansol observatory (Observatoire de la finance solidaire) publishes regularly several studies and papers. Finansol published in English two studies to disseminate the knowledge of the solidarity-based finance mechanisms, but also to help the actors of the sector to improve products for individual savings. The study “financial innovation towards solidarity” retraces the genesis and development of emblematic innovations (solidarity-based citizen capital, sharing return savings and the solidarity-based funds) for more than 20 years in France. The study on solidarity-based funds explore precisely how ‘90/10 funds’ have rapidly become the primary mechanism for collecting solidarity-based savings. Studies are available on the Finansol website: http://finansol.org/en/ Publications with statistics on solidarity-based finance are produced in a yearly timeline by the Finansol solidarity-based finance observatory. All impact indicators of the solidarity-based finance are available in the Finansol publication “Zoom sur la finance solidaire 2018”, available in the Finansol website: https://www.finansol.org/_dwl/zoom-finance-solidaire.pdf All publications, studies and reports produces are available on the Finansol website (in French): https://www.finansol.org/nos-publications/ 2 - Continued growth of the solidarity-based finance sector French solidarity-based finance stakeholders have set an ambitious goal for the coming decade: ensuring that at least 1% of all financial assets of French citizens (equivalent to 5 014 Billion euros in 2017*) be invested in solidarity-based finance vehicles. Finansol advocates on behalf of its members for the maintenance of specific tax benefits and the promotion of savings vehicles easily accessible for all, in order to achieve this goal and foster the continued growth of the solidarity-based financial sector. 3 - The internationalization of the French solidarity-based finance Finansol has the objective to contribute to the development of the solidarity-based finance at the European and international level by: promoting the model of solidarity-based finance, starting discussions to launch an European solidarity-based label, encourage the creation of a regulatory framework enabling the development of the solidarity-based finance at the European level and in developing countries.

1 - The actors financing the service Solidarity-based finance encompasses all financial opportunities that allow individuals to invest directly or indirectly in a project or social enterprise with a strong social and/or environmental impact. Thus, the actors involved in solidarity financing are citizens (through citizen savings), private individual investors and local companies and institutional investors. By 2017, more than 1 million individuals were actively involved in solidarity-based finance (vs 40 000 or 50 000 a decade before), a figure that continues to increase annually, representing more than 2,4 millions of solidarity-based savings subscriptions. The social shareholders – who might represent one hundred thousands of people – benefit from fiscal measures linked with venture capital, regulated by European texts. Social companies have access to the same measures related to “aid for financing risk-taking” as “classical” companies. 2 - The Finansol label committee The label is given by the Finansol label Committee, which is a committee of experts independent to the association. The committee comprises individuals from very different sectors: associations, finance, trade unions, academia, the media as well as people in charge of responsible finance labels. All members of the committee are appointed on an intuit personae basis by the committee itself, and participate on a voluntary basis. The committee’s rules of procedure specify these rules of nomination, and those for managing any conflict of interest. Committee members cannot be members of the association and may not receive any instructions from the association. The Finansol label criteria and objectives The label’s regulations are based on three main criteria: - The product’s solidarity nature, which ensures the solidarity aspect of the product (all or part of the savings collected finance activity and/or solidarity projects). - A transparency and information criteria, ensuring that the investor is giving information on the financial and solidarity characteristics of the investment at the time of subscribing, and regular information is provided after the subscription. - A commercial action criterion, to ensure that the circulation of labelled products does not remain hidden. The Finansol label has three main objectives: - To offer a guarantee of confidence to the savers and investors from an external third-party; - To distinguish a solidarity-based investment from other savings products; - To benefit from the association’s collective support.

- All of Finansol members are listed following : https://www.finansol.org/liste-des-membres/ - Finansol partners (among them, the French Development Agency, the Deposits and Consignments Fund) : https://www.finansol.org/nos-partenaires/ - The list of the financial products labelled by Finansol are available following : https://www.finansol.org/quels-sont-les-produits-labellises/