Banking in Italy

The headquarters of UniCredit bank in Milan

There are three main types of credit institutions and banks in Italy. Commercial banks, which include three national banks, chartered banks, cooperative banks, and private banks across the country, are the most common. However, savings banks organized on a provincial or regional basis in addition to investment institutions that issue bonds and provide medium- and long-term credit for public works and agriculture provide additional financial services. Unicredit is one of the largest banks in Europe by capitalization and Assicurazioni Generali is the seventh largest bank in the world by total assets.

History

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472, is the world's oldest or second oldest bank in continuous operation.

The origins of modern banking can be traced to the medieval and early Italian Renaissance, to the rich cities in the north like Florence, Lucca, Siena, Venice, and Genoa. The Bardi and Peruzzi families dominated banking in 14th-century Florence, establishing branches in many other parts of Europe. One of the most famous Italian banks was the Medici Bank, set up by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici in 1397. The earliest known state deposit bank, Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St. George), was founded in 1407 in Genoa, Italy, while Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472, is the oldest surviving bank in the world.

In 1893, following the Banca Romana scandal, the Italian government formed the Bank of Italy, the nation's first central bank, as part of massive reforms to the banking sector.

List of banks by total assets

Main article: List of banks in Italy

The headquarters of Intesa Sanpaolo bank in Turin

Italy had 11 banking group (excluding banking group that owned by foreign banks) that were supervised by the European Central Bank directly. According Mediobanca, there are more than 350 banking groups or independent banks as of 2017.

However, ECB considered ICCREA Banca, the clearing house of Italian cooperative banks federation as one banking group, which the publication of Mediobanca considered the cooperative banks are individual entities, such as Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Roma was ranked 22nd in the publication, while ICCREA Banca and Bank of Italy were excluded from the publication.

The following is a list of the main Italian banks ranked by total assets and gross premiums written.

As of 17 January 2022

Rank (by Mediobanca)	Company	Total Assets (billion €)	RWAs (thousands €)	Type
1	Intesa Sanpaolo	1,002.61		domestic systemically important bank; was supervised by European Central Bank
2	UniCredit	931.46		global systemically important bank (Bucket 1) identified by Financial Stability Board; was supervised by European Central Bank
*	Bank of Italy			central bank
3	Cassa Depositi e Prestiti	410.35		national investment bank, majority owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance
*	BancoPosta division of Poste italiane			joint-control by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the Ministry of Economy and Finance
*	Istituto per il Credito Sportivo			a subsidiary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance
4	Banco BPM	183.69		domestic systemically important bank; was supervised by European Central Bank
5	Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena	150.36		domestic systemically important bank; was supervised by European Central Bank, minority owned by Ministry of Economy and Finance (legacy of the 2017 bailout)
6	BPER Banca	134.17		was supervised by European Central Bank
7	Banca Nazionale del Lavoro	95.9		subsidiary of BNP Paribas (was supervised by European Central Bank)
8	Mediobanca	78.95		was supervised by European Central Bank
9	Crédit Agricole Italia	58.42		subsidiary of Crédit Agricole (was supervised by European Central Bank)
10	Banca Mediolanum	59.03		Also an leading insurance company
11	Credito Emiliano	56.65		was supervised by European Central Bank
12	Banca Popolare di Sondrio	53.30		was supervised by European Central Bank
*	ICCREA Banca	38.12	12,834,414	clearing house owned by 300+ regional banks, was supervised by European Central Bank
13	Deutsche Bank (Italy)	023.93		subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (was supervised by European Central Bank)
14	Crediop	020.53		subsidiary of Dexia (was supervised by European Central Bank)
15	Banca Popolare di Bari	014.25
16	Banco di Desio e della Brianza	013.98
17	Banca Sella Group	013.97
18	Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Roma	011.59		Will be part of ICCREA Banca Group as shareholder
19	Cassa di Risparmio di Asti	011.51

Note: Banks with assets less than €10 billion were omitted from this wiki list. Barclays Bank, Italian branch was also excluded

See also

• List of banks in Italy

External links

• Major banks in Italy