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Intesa Sanpaolo

Italian banking group formed in 2007 from the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, with roots in the Compagnia di San Paolo founded in Turin in 1563.

Intesa Sanpaolo is an Italian banking group, operating since 2 January 2007 as the result of the merger between Banca Intesa, of Milanese origin, and Sanpaolo IMI[1]. It describes itself as one of the leading banking groups in Europe and the leader in Italy across all business sectors; in 2026 it had around 13.9 million customers in Italy and more than 2,600 branches in the country[2]. Its roots in Turin go back to 1563, when a group of citizens founded the Compagnia di San Paolo; the foundation that still bears that name is today the bank's largest single shareholder[3]. In the city the group has left two visible marks: Renzo Piano's skyscraper next to Porta Susa and the Gallerie d'Italia on Piazza San Carlo.

From the Monte di Pietà to the Istituto Bancario San Paolo

In 1563 seven citizens founded the Compagnia di San Paolo to help a population impoverished by the crisis that followed the wars. In 1579 the confraternity opened a Monte di Pietà, which lent money to the poor against pledged goods, and in 1595 the Ufficio Pio, intended for anyone in difficulty regardless of social class[3]. Suppressed in 1802, during the French period, the Compagnia saw its Monte reorganized by the Napoleonic government on the model of the one in Paris, which strengthened its nature as a credit institution; with the Restoration the body was revived. In 1853 the Savoy state restricted the Compagnia's activity to religious practices alone, while charitable work and credit passed to the Opere Pie di San Paolo institute[3].

In the 1930s the institute grew as a bank, expanding its network across the region; in the postwar period the Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino played a leading role in the reconstruction of the city[3]. The turning point came with the 1991 Amato-Carli law, which separated the credit business, transferred to a joint-stock company, from the philanthropic function: the non-banking part took back the old name of Compagnia di San Paolo[3].

The Milanese branch and the 2007 merger

The other branch had Lombard origins. Banca Intesa was formed in 1998 from the merger of the Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde (Cariplo) and Banco Ambroveneto, and was headquartered in Milan[1]. In 1999 it acquired control of Banca Commerciale Italiana, becoming the largest Italian banking group and one of the twelve largest in the euro area[4]; the merger with Comit, founded in 1894, was completed in 2001[1].

During 2006 the deal that would merge Banca Intesa with Sanpaolo IMI, then Italy's third-largest bank, got under way[4]. The new institution, Intesa Sanpaolo, became operational on 2 January 2007[1].

UBI Banca and recent growth

In February 2020 the group, led by chief executive Carlo Messina (in office since 2013, with Gian Maria Gros-Pietro as chairman since 2016)[1], launched a surprise public exchange offer for UBI Banca, the Bergamo-based bank: 17 newly issued Intesa Sanpaolo shares for every 10 UBI shares, with a 27.6% premium over the stock market prices of 14 February, for a value of 4.86 billion euros. To obtain antitrust clearance the plan called for the sale of 400-500 branches to BPER and of insurance businesses to Unipol[5]. By the end of July acceptances had exceeded 70% of the capital, and the deal gave rise, according to Sky TG24, to the seventh-largest banking group in the Eurozone[6]. UBI was absorbed in April 2021[1].

In 2024 the group closed the year with 8.6 billion euros in profit[1]. In the same years it shifted part of its customer base to the digital channel with Isybank, launched as an online bank in June 2023: between September and December of that year around 300,000 customers were transferred to it, and many complained because the notice had arrived only as an in-app notification, often read too late to object[7].

The Porta Susa skyscraper

The symbol of the group's presence in Turin is the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper on Corso Inghilterra, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop[8] near Porta Susa station[9]. The project, unveiled in 2006, called for a tower almost 200 metres tall with an auditorium at its base and, at the top, a greenhouse, an art gallery and a restaurant; the cost was estimated at between 450 and 500 million euros[9]. The idea divided the city. The No Grat movement, which gathered objections to the project, challenged its impact on the city; its spokesman Paolo Hutter stated:

«a skyscraper almost 200 metres tall would certainly compromise the city's image, the view of the Alps and of the Mole Antonelliana»

Paolo Hutter, spokesman for No Grat

Part of public opinion mobilized mainly because the tower would exceed the height of the Mole Antonelliana[9]. Today the tower houses, in addition to offices, spaces open to the public: the auditorium, the Spazio Trentacinque for exhibitions and events, the Piano35 restaurant at a height of 150 metres, and a lounge bar in the bioclimatic greenhouse at the top of the building[8].

The Gallerie d'Italia on Piazza San Carlo

In May 2022 the group opened its Turin venue of the Gallerie d'Italia, its museum network, in Palazzo Turinetti, at number 156 Piazza San Carlo. The design of the spaces is by Michele De Lucchi with AMDL Circle. The museum's five floors are devoted mainly to photography, alongside a selection of works of Piedmontese Baroque art; the museum also holds the Archivio Publifoto, a photographic collection that can also be viewed online[10].

The tie with the Compagnia

More than four centuries after its founding, the thread linking the bank to the 1563 confraternity has not been broken. The Compagnia di San Paolo, now a philanthropic foundation that since 2020 has organized its activity around the goals of Culture, People and Planet, holds 6.7% of Intesa Sanpaolo's shares, a stake that makes it the group's largest single shareholder[3]. Its activity is directed at Turin and Piedmont, where it supports culture, research and welfare[3].

Pages linking here

Timeline

  • — More than 150 workers at Innovaway and Nbt strike beneath the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper in Turin, demanding permanent contracts and an end to job cuts linked to the bank's outsourcing contracts. → Quotidiano Piemontese CronacaQui Torino
  • — The exhibition "Luca Campigotto. Wandering Europe" opens at the Gallerie d'Italia on Piazza San Carlo, running until 7 February 2027. → TorinoOggi Il Torinese

Related articles: Compagnia di San Paolo, Intesa Sanpaolo Skyscraper

Sources

  1. Treccani
  2. Intesa Sanpaolo
  3. Compagnia di San Paolo
  4. Il Sole 24 Ore — 28 April 2016
  5. ANSA — 18 February 2020
  6. Sky TG24 — 30 July 2020
  7. Il Post — 3 October 2023
  8. Intesa Sanpaolo
  9. TorinoToday
  10. Gallerie d'Italia

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