Cariplo

Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde was established in 1823, by initiative of the count Giovanni Pietro Porro, in one of the most flourishing regions of the Austrian Empire: its mission was to favour the formation of household savings in the Lombard area.

During the second half of the XIX century the Reign of Italy was moving its first steps and the Saving Bank expanded its operations to the financing of agricultural, industrial and commercial activities.

At the beginning of 1900, Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde had already achieved a considerable soundness so as to later become a fundamental reference point for enterprises facing the serious crisis of the Great War.

That situation consolidated the strong social sensitiveness which is still an ideal and operating asset of Banca Intesa. In the post World War II period, the Saving Bank is among the protagonists in the reconstruction of Milan.

In the Fifties, during the Italian economic boom, it increased its activities in medium-term loans, especially in favour of lower-sized enterprises, through the foundation of Mediocredito Lombardo.

Starting from the Sixties, Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde was a commercial bank and in the following two decades it achieved a considerable territorial presence in Italy and abroad. In 1991, an important restructuring led to the merger of the subsidiary IBI and to the contribution by Ente Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde of its banking activities to a new company named Cariplo SpA.

Ente Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde, after that contribution, took the name of Fondazione Cariplo and pursues objectives of public interest and social benefit and solidarity. In 1997 the Chairman of Fondazione Cariplo, Giuseppe Guzzetti, and the Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano Veneto (BAV), Giovanni Bazoli signed an agreement for the integration between Cariplo and BAV which gave birth to Banca Intesa.