We compare characteristics of the banks’ specialization (cooperative versus non-cooperative) at world level in a time spell including the global financial crisis. Cooperative banks display higher net loans/total assets ratios, lower shares of derivatives over total assets and lower earning volatility than commercial banks. With a diff-in-diff approach we test whether the global financial crisis produced convergence/divergence in these indicators. We finally document that, in a conditional convergence specification, the net loans/total assets ratio is positively and significantly correlated with value added growth in some manufacturing sectors but not in others.