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History of the company/bank and archive description for Banca Commerciale Italiana SpA (BCI)
History of the
company/bank:		 BCI was founded in Milan in 1894, with German, Austrian and Swiss capitals, integrated by French partners in 1899 and later replaced by Italian capitals. Soon BCI became the major Italian "universal" bank, with a large network of branches, while at the same time extending its presence abroad, especially in South America and in Central and Eastern Europe. BCI also operated as an investment bank, with shareholdings in industrial companies. In 1931 the government rescued BCI from a severe crisis, and in 1933 ownership and control over the Bank were transferred to IRI, a new State holding. In 1936 (new banking law), its operations were restricted to short term credit business. After the Second World War, BCI was a leading force in the reconstruction of the country and in the industrial "boom" of the 50s and 60s. Moreover, the Bank managed to re-penetrate foreign financial circuits. In 1994 BCI was privatised. As of December 1998, BCI had a domestic network of 905 branches and two subsidiary regional banks and offered a wide range of corporate banking services; moreover, it had 15 branches, 20 representative offices, and participations in more than 40 countries around the world.

URL of archive department : http://www.bci.it/cultura/archivio/ukastorico
Archive description The Historical Archives came into being in 1984 and were opened to the public in 1988. All the papers relating to the period 1894-1934 are now available for consultation. They range from official corporate records to financial and industrial affairs, International Division and Economic Research Department, personal papers, some records of branches and subsidiaries.The finding aids are: inventories for all the 35 records groups open to the public, cumulative indexes by persons' names, by institutions and companies and by place-names and nations. An iconographic section is available, with managers and bank premises photographs.Two fires destroyed the previous records centres in 1943 at Milan and 1973 at Parma, so many records groups were lost.
Globally the Historical Archives keep 1,200 linear metres of records, but an extraordinary survey was recently begun in order to acquire post-1945 records at risk in the Head Office, branches and subsidiaries.With regard to the invaluable papers by Raffaele Mattioli - BCI's managing director and chairman from 1934 to 1972 - a digitalisation project is now starting.
Publications BCI's history:
  • Gianni TONIOLO, One Hundred Years, 1894-1994. A Short History of the Banca Commerciale Italiana, Milan, Banca Commerciale Italiana - Historical Archives, 1994 .
  • Banca Commerciale Italiana: 1894-1919, Milano, Bertieri e Vanzetti, 1920.
  • Antonio CONFALONIERI, Banca e industria in Italia: 1894-1906, 3 vols., Milano, Banca Commerciale Italiana, 1974-1976.
  • ID., Banca e industria in Italia dalla crisi del 1907 all'agosto 1914, 2 vols., Milano, Banca Commerciale Italiana, 1982.
  • ID., Banche miste e grande industria in Italia: 1914-1933, 2 vols., Milano, Banca Commerciale Italiana, 1994 and 1997.
  • Peter HERTNER, Il capitale tedesco in Italia dall'Unità alla prima guerra mondiale. Banche miste e sviluppo economico italiano, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1984.
  • Giovanni MALAGODI, Profilo di Raffaele Mattioli, Milano-Napoli, Ricciardi, 1984.
  • Giorgio RODANO, Il credito all'economia. Raffaele Mattioli alla Banca Commerciale Italiana, Milano-Napoli, Ricciardi, 1984.
BCI's Historical Archives publications:
  • Historical Archives, Milano, 1988.
  • The Historical Archives of Banca Commerciale Italiana, Milano, 1990.
  • F. PINO, Dieci anni di lavoro in équipe: aperti al pubblico tutti i documenti Comit dal 1894 al 1934, in "Archivi e Imprese", n. 13, giugno 1996, pp. 133-61. (Ten years of team work: all the documents of Banca Commerciale Italiana from 1894 to 1934 opened to the public).
Inventories' series:
  • Presidenza e Consiglio d'Amministrazione (1894-1934), Milano, 1990.(Chairman and Board of Directors).
  • Società Finanziaria Industriale Italiana 1905 - 1938 (Sofindit), Milano, 1991.
  • Segreteria Generale (1894-1926) e fondi diversi, Milano, 1994.(General Secretariat and various records groups).
  • Segreteria dell'Amministratore Delegato Giuseppe Toeplitz (1916-1934), Milano, 1995.(Secretariat of Giuseppe Toeplitz, Managing Director).
  • Servizio Estero e rete estera, Milano, 1997.(International Division and foreign banking network, till the Second World War).
For more details and for other publications by BCI's archivists see the Internet site at: http://www.bci.it/cultura/archivio/ukastorico.htm
Conditions of use The Historical Archives are open to qualified researchers, 9. a.m. - 2 p.m. (weekdays)

Rules for the use of the BCI's Historical Archives:

Permission to use the Historical Archives will be granted to:
a) qualified researchers who apply for access in connection with current work;
b) BCI personnel who can prove they need to use the facility for administrative reasons.

All applications must be made in writing to the Secretary of the Archives. They must include:
1. a statement of the aims of the research project;
2. an undertaking to supply the Archives with one copy of any work that is based on or makes reference to the documents consulted;
3. a declaration accepting full civil and criminal liability for any damage to persons or companies arising from the divulging of information contained in documents belonging to the Archives.

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