Intesa Sanpaolo
Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. is an Italian banking group resulting from the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI based in Torre Intesa Sanpaolo, Turin, Italy. In 2014 it was the largest banking group in Italy by market capitalization, and second by total assets. The bank has also experienced growth in the international market, focused in Central-Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
When it was formed in 2007 it overtook Unicredit Group as the largest bank in Italy with 13 million customers and US$690 billion worth of assets. 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. In August 2018, Intesa Sanpaolo launched XME pay digital wallet.
History
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. Sanpaolo IMI was born in 1998 following the merger of Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, which specialized in retail banking, and IMI, an investment bank.Banca Intesa
The oldest part of the banking group is Cariplo Sp.A.. which traces its roots to 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 led to the restructuring/reorganization of banks by forcing the government to relinquish control of them.Cariplo SpA was formed in 1991 when 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.
Banca Commerciale Italiana
Banca Commerciale Italiana started in 1894 as a corporate loans lender operating in the commercial industry of Northern Italy. In 1994 Mediobanca purchased an interest in BCI. 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 companyBCI merged with the former Banca 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 and Istituto Mobiliare Italiano merged, in a US 37.8 billion dollar deal.Intesa Sanpaolo
In January 2007, Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, two of the three largest bank of Italy, officially merged.As part of the authorization of the merger, the Italian Competition Authority forbid Intesa Sanpaolo to open any new branches for two years in the provinces of Udine and Gorizia, provinces of Rovigo and Padua, Aosta Valley, provinces of Biella and Alessandria, Province of Bolzano, Province of Bologna, Province of Pavia, Province of Naples, Province of Imperia, provinces of Sassari and Cagliari, Province of Rieti, province of Terni, Province of Pesaro-Urbino, Province of Pescara and Province of Catanzaro.
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.
In December 2007, Cassa di Risparmio di Biella e Vercelli was also sold to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena for €399 million.
In 2008, Intesa Sanpaolo acquired Banca CR Firenze. In December 2008, Cassa di Risparmio di Fano was sold to Credito Valtellinese.
In 2009, group acquisitions included a 30% interest in business info company MF Honyvem, and an increased stake in Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana up to 33.3% Even though the bank was rumoured to have been working with the government to keep Air France from acquiring a stake in Alitalia, Air France eventually acquired 25%. Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana sold part of its stake in the airline to Etihad Airways in 2015.
From 2012 to 2013, Intesa Sanpaolo write down the value of investment in Banca delle Marche for a total of €90 million, as well as €26 million for a minority stake in Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Chieti in 2014. The shareholders of the banks was bail-in in the rescue plan in 2015.
In 2014, Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia and Banca di Credito Sardo were absorbed into Intesa Sanpaolo. The 2014–17 business plan of the bank stated that the banking group would simplified their legal structure.
In 2015, local banks Banca Monte Parma, Banca di Trento e Bolzano, Cassa di Risparmio di Civitavecchia, Cassa di Risparmio di Rieti and Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Viterbo were absorbed into Intesa Sanpaolo. Banca dell'Adriatico and Casse di Risparmio dell'Umbria were planned to be absorb by Intesa Sanpaolo in mid-2016. A unified website was also used for the remaining retail banks of the group in 2016.
In 2016–17, the banking group also sold their non-core businesses, such as the 0.49% ordinary shares of Visa Europe in cash plus share deal; Intesa Sanapolo Card and subsidiary Setefi to Mercury for €1.035 billion and 4.88% shares of Bank of Italy to the bank's shareholders Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cariplo and the pension funds of the group for €366 million.
On 26 June 2017, as part of a government funded bail-out of the depositors, Intesa Sanpaolo acquired the good assets of Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, including some of the subsidiaries such as Banca Apulia and Banca Nuova. The branches of BPVi and Veneto Banca would at first became branches of Intesa Sanpaolo, but some of them would be closed down in the near future for efficiency, as Intesa Sanapolo was also one of the major bank in Veneto region which the failed banks based. In October 2017, the plan to absorb Banca Nuova into Intesa Sanpaolo was also announced. In December 2017, the plan to absorb Cassa di Risparmio del Friuli Venezia Giulia was announced.
On 6 February 2018, 10 further mergers were announced in the 2018–2021 business plan: Banco di Napoli. Banca CR Firenze, CR Pistoia e della Lucchesia, CR Veneto, Carisbo, Cariromagna, Banca Apulia, Banca IMI, Banca Prossima and Mediocredito Italiano.
Major shareholders
Intesa Sanpaolo's shareholders with more than a 3% stake| Shareholder | Stake |
| 9.888% | |
| Fondazione Cariplo | 4.680% |
Many shareholders of the group were the former owner of the saving banks that were acquired by Intesa and Sanapaolo IMI through shares swap. For example, as of 31 December 2013, Fondazione Carisap held 0.3537% shares, Fondazione Carisbo held 2.023%, Fondazione Cariparma held 0.67%, Fondazione Carispezia held 0.25%, Fondazione di Venezia held 0.33215%.
Corporate Governance
Intesa Sanpaolo has a single-tiered corporate governance system in which the Board of Directors alone are in charge of strategic supervision and control. The latter duty is carried out by the Management Control Committee instead of the Board of Directors itself. The bank adopted this single-tiered system in April 2016, replacing the former two-tiered structure. Previously, the supervisory board exercised control and strategic management functions, whereas the management board oversaw the management of the company’s business. The supervisory board was appointed by shareholders in their annual meeting. It supervised the activities carried out by the management board and, in particular, approved the main strategic initiatives proposed by the management board. The management board appointed one of its members to be the CEO.Board of directors
Members were appointed on April 27, 2016 for the following financial years: 2016, 2017 and 2018.| Position | Name |
| Chairman | Gian Maria Gros-Pietro |
| Deputy chairperson | Paolo Andrea Colombo |
| Managing director and CEO | Carlo Messina |
| Director | Bruno Picca |
| Director | Rossella Locatelli |
| Director | Giovanni Costa |
| Director | Livia Pomodoro |
| Director | Giovanni Gorno Tempini |
| Director | Giorgina Gallo |
| Director | Franco Ceruti |
| Director | Gianfranco Carbonato |
| Director | Francesca Cornelli |
| Director | Daniele Zamboni |
| Director | Maria Mazzarella |
| Director | Maria Cristina Zoppo |
| Director | Edoardo Gaffeo |
| Director | Milena Teresa Motta |
| Chairman of the Management Control Committee | Marco Mangiagalli |
| Director | Alberto Maria Pisani |
Financial information
Table with a comparison of Intesa Sanpaolo financial performance over the last years.| Year | Net income | Total assets | Total equity |
| 2017 | 7,354 | 796,861 | 56,205 |
| 2016 | 3,111 | 725,100 | 48,911 |
| 2015 | 2,739 | 676,568 | 47,776 |
| 2014 | 1,251 | 646,427 | 44,683 |
| 2013 | -4,550 | 624,179 | 44,520 |
| 2012 | 1,605 | 673,472 | 49,613 |
| 2011 | -8,190 | 639,221 | 47,040 |
| 2010 | 2,705 | 657,025 | 53,533 |
| 2009 | 2,805 | 624,844 | 52,681 |
| 2008 | 2,533 | 636,133 | 48,954 |
Business Units
The group's operations are segmented into 7 parts- Banca dei Territori - By far the largest division this is the company's domestic commercial bank in Italy. Subsidiaries include Mediocredito Italiano, Banca Prossima and Banca 5.
- Corporate and Investment Banking - Present in 29 countries this division acts as a "global partner" supporting the development of financial institutions, both nationally and internationally.
- International Subsidiary Banks - Present in 10 countries spanning central eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
- Insurance Division includes subsidiaries Fideuram Vita, Intesa Sanpaolo Assicura and Intesa Sanpaolo Vita
- Capital Light Banks includes Intesa Sanpaolo Re.O.CO.
- Eurizon Capital - One of Italy's largest asset manager that invests in such things as bonds, publicly traded companies and also engages in short term borrowing and lending.
- Private Bank Division - includes Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, Sirefid, Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking Suisse and Banca Fideuram that offers financial advice services. It was created in 1968 as a subsidiary of IMI with the purpose of managing IMI's Luxembourg mutual fund business. In 1992 it was merged with another subsidiary Manusardi, that is when it officially became Banca Fideuram. In 1997 it entered the private banking industry, 2000 it became a broker after acquiring French Company Groupe Wargny then in 2004 its parent company IMI took over its life insurance business. Its association with US company Frank Russell group gave it a foothold in the personal financial planning market.
Subsidiaries
| Intesa Sanpaolo Banka d.d. Bosna i Hercegovina | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Banca Fideuram | Italy |
| Banca Intesa Beograd | Serbia |
| Intesa Sanpaolo Bank - | Slovenia |
| CIB Bank | Hungary |
| Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania | Albania |
| Bank of Alexandria | Egypt |
| Pravex Bank | Ukraine |
| Bank Intesa | Russia |
| Všeobecná úverová banka | Slovakia |
| Intesa Sanpaolo Romania SA | Romania |
| Privredna banka Zagreb | Croatia |