Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. is an Italian international banking group. It is Italy's largest bank by total assets and the world's 27th largest. It was formed through the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007, but has a corporate identity stretching back to its first foundation as Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino in 1583.
In 2020, the bank served approximately 14.6 million customers in Italy and 7.2 million customers in Central and Southeast Europe, Ukraine and Egypt through several subsidiares such as Bank of Alexandria, CIB Bank and VÚB Banka.
By 2010 its assets had grown to US$877.66 billion, ranking 26th in Forbes Global 2000. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.
History
Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, the two banks that merged in 2007 to create Intesa Sanpaolo, were themselves the product of many mergers. Cariplo and Banco Ambrosiano Veneto merged in 1998 to form Banca Intesa. The following year Banca Commerciale Italiana joined the group. 1998, Sanpaolo IMI emerged from the merger of Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, which specialized in retail banking, and IMI (Istituto Mobiliare Italiano), an investment bank.
Banca Intesa
The oldest part of the banking group is Cariplo S.p.A. which traces its roots to the Austrian Empire household savings bank Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde which was established in 1823 in Milan. The cassa di risparmio was started by an Italian philanthropic group, the Central Committee of Charity; a response by the government to the hard economic times of the early 19th century. In the early 20th century the bank helped Italian companies in the North obtain capital during and after World Wars 1 and 2, chiefly under the guidance of Giordano Dell'Amore. Banking reforms in 1990 started by Giuliano Amato (Amato Law; ) led to the restructuring/reorganization of banks by forcing the government to relinquish control of them (the result was a more market-driven bank that focused less on social programs/social causes were abandoned).
Cariplo S.p.A was formed in 1991 when Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde (sold by Ente Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde ) merged with its subsidiary IBI. Banco Ambrosiano Veneto originated with Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano and Banca Cattolica del Veneto which merged in 1989. The bank increased in size during the 1990s due to numerous acquisitions (Citibank Italia, Banca Vallone di Galatina and European securities dealer Caboto among others).
Banca Commerciale Italiana
Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) started in 1894 as a corporate loans lender operating in the commercial industry of Northern Italy. In 1994 Mediobanca purchased an interest in BCI (ironically BCI was one of the 3 banks that formed Mediobanca almost 50 years earlier). BCI tried to acquire Banco Ambrosiano Veneto the same year but was spurned by shareholders who wouldn't accept the US$1.13 billion offer. In 1999 Italy's largest bank Unicredit Group at the time, attempted a hostile takeover of BCI but failed due to Mediobanca's interest in the company (Mediobanca wanted to merge Banca di Roma with BCI). BCI merged with the former Banco Ambrosiano and Cariplo in 1998 to form a financial institution renamed Banca Intesa in 2003.
Sanpaolo IMI
Sanpaolo IMI was formed in 1998 when Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino (founded in 1563) and Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI) merged, (IMI itself was established in 1931) in a US 37.8 billion dollar deal.
Intesa Sanpaolo
In January 2007, Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, two of the three largest banks in Italy, officially merged.
As part of the authorization of the merger, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) forbid Intesa Sanpaolo to open any new branches for two years in the provinces of Udine and Gorizia (Friuli – Venezia Giulia region), provinces of Rovigo and Padua (Veneto region), Aosta Valley, provinces of Biella and Alessandria (Piedmont region), Province of Bolzano (South Tyrol), Province of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region), Province of Pavia (Lombardy region), Province of Naples (Campania region), Province of Imperia (Liguria region), provinces of Sassari and Cagliari (Sardinia Island), Province of Rieti (Lazio region), province of Terni (Umbria region), Province of Pesaro-Urbino (Marche region), Province of Pescara (Abruzzo region) and Province of Catanzaro (Calabria region).
The French banking group Crédit Agricole started to spin off from Intesa Sanpaolo, by acquiring Cariparma, FriulAdria in 2007 and Carispezia in 2011, as well as branches from Intesa Sanpaolo. In 2012, Crédit Agricole sold all the shares of Intesa Sanpaolo.