Antonveneta

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Antonveneta bank in Genoa - Italy

Antonveneta (Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta), is the 9th largest banking group in Italy in terms of customer loans and the 8th largest in terms of total assets, with 1,000 branches, 10,800 employees and €50bn in assets.

The bank, based in Padua, only operates in the fragmented Italian market, where it has a market share of roughly 3%. It has a focus on the wealthy Northeast of the country with 6% market share and 600 branches.

Eighty-six percent of its clients are retail clients, accounting for 58% of assets, most of which are owned by affluent and private clients, 12% corporate, accounting for 42% of assets, and 2% institutional.

[edit] History

Antonveneta was created by the merger in 1996 of two banks, Banca Antoniana and the credit union (popolare) Banca Popolare Veneta. Banca Antoniana traced its origins back to its founding in Padua in 1893 under the name, Banca Cattolica Padovana. Banca Popolare Veneta was also founded in Padua, in this case in 1866 under the name Banca Mutua di Credito Popolare; in 1883 it transformed itself into Banca Cooperativa Popolare. After World War II, it acquired several other credit unions (populare): Treviso in 1950, Polesine in 1980, Cavarzere in 1982, and Valdagno in 1987 In that same year the bank took the name, Banca Popolare Veneta.

In 1997, i.e., one year after the merger, the bank acquired a majority interest in Interbanca, which gave Banca Antonveneta the capability to function as a universal bank, not just a retail bank. Then in 1999 it acquired Banca Nazionale del'Agricoltura, which gave it a presence throughout Italy, especially in the south. Since then it has focused more on internally-financed growth and in 2002 it switched from being a cooperative bank to a publicly listed SpA.

In 2005, Dutch financial powerhouse ABN AMRO successfully overcame a scandal-ridden campaign by Italian banking regulators to become the first foreign bank to own an Italian bank. This move has been said to clear the way for other European banks to enter the lucrative Italian market. In early 2006, Antonveneta's shares were delisted from the Italian stock exchange as ABN AMRO acquired more than an 80% controlling stake in the banking group.

In October 2007, a consortium comprising Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander and Fortis acquired ABN AMRO in order to divide its assets between them. Banca Antonveneta was initially to be taken over by Santander,^[1] but on 8 November 2007 the Spanish bank announced that it would be selling Antonveneta on to Monte dei Paschi di Siena.^[2]

In March 2008, Santander sold Interbanca to GE Financial.