The bank was founded by
Compagnia di San Paolo (a brotherhood) in 1563. In early years the bank was a
mount of piety. By the late 19th-century, it was state-controlled. In 1991
Crediop became a subsidiary of the bank, which was sold to
Dexia in 1999 by
Sanpaolo IMI, the successor of the bank. In 1991, due to , the bank was transformed from a
statutory corporation to a
società per azioni (company limited by shares), which
San Paolo Bank Holding S.p.A. and
Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino S.p.A. were created. Compagnia di San Paolo remained as the major shareholders. In 1997 the brotherhood owned 20.54% of the bank, followed by
Banco Santander (6.8%),
Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (5%) and others. In 1994 the bank absorbed
Banca Provinciale Lombarda and
Banco Lariano. In 1995 Sanpaolo absorbed
Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni. According to Ricerche e Studi, a subsidiary of
Mediobanca, the bank was ranked second in terms of client deposits in 1997, behind
Banca Intesa (pro forma data). In 1998 the bank merged with Istituto Mobiliare Italiano to form
Sanpaolo IMI. Former shareholders of Sanpaolo received about 55.3% shares of the new company (or 775,184,948). Compagnia di San Paolo would own 16.4%. ==See also==