First Green Bank Hopes to Join 15 Member Global Banking Alliance on Values that Promotes Sustainable Banking Practices

MOUNT DORA, Fla. – First Green Bank, the Lake County-based bank with branch locations in Mount Dora, Clermont and Ormond Beach, has asked to join the Global Banking Alliance on Values, the leading independent network of banks to foster sustainable banking practices worldwide.

Kenneth LaRoe, chairman and chief executive officer of First Green Bank, recently attended the annual conference of the Global Banking Alliance on Values in Vancouver, British Columbia. The network, founded in 2003, currently has 15 members in 12 countries worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Bangladesh and Mongolia.

LaRoe said First Green Bank would become the network’s first U.S. member east of the Mississippi River.

“The Global Banking Alliance on Values has committed to impact the lives of one billion people worldwide by 2020 by offering sustainable banking practices as an alternative to the dominate banking model that alienated so many during the financial crisis,” LaRoe said.

“There is a real and urgent need for a values-based banking model that seeks to finance entrepreneurs who build their enterprises, create job growth and support communities,” LaRoe said.

“Banks play an integral role in building and sustaining communities, in helping small businesses grow and in helping customers earn a better future for themselves and their families,” LaRoe said.

“The predatory lending and investment practices that contributed to the international economic crisis have no place in modern banking, and we are pleased and proud to join a worldwide movement that aims to establish integrity and sustainability as the keys to successful banking,” he said.

Global Banking Alliance on Values member banks report combined assets of more than $26 billion with banking operations in 24 countries worldwide.