The work of girobanks caused a fundamental change in the banking business:
banks of the simple custodians of values turned into intermediaries between individuals
who have free capital and those who are in need of loans. Girobanks turn into so-called
deposit banks.
In the 12th century there appeared in Northern Italy the first private bankers'
houses and family of bankers, who soon began to open branches in different cities. An
example is the Florentine Bardi House, which had offices in England, Belgium and
Africa. The largest lender was the Medici family, managing branches in Venice,
Naples, Geneva and Lyon. Having expanded the bank activity across Europe, Medici
became the most famous among the new class of capitalists.
Over time, the development of the banking system was due to the emergence of
new girobanks and commercial deposit banks, savings banks, mortgage and business
banks, the creation of a network of financial-credit institutions. In 1893 the Italian
National Bank appeared, which began to serve as the central bank of the country.
The main features of modern banking system in Italy were formed in 20-30s of
XIX century. The crisis of the 1930s seriously touched the banking system, which
forced the state to nationalize a large part of the banks and to form two institutes as the
highest bodies of the credit system – the Interministerial Committee on loans and
savings and the Central issuing bank – the Bank of Italy. The second level of the credit
system is represented by commercial banks and specialized lending institutions.
Since 1947, the highest body of the Italian credit system was the State Institute
– the Interministerial Committee on loans and savings, representing the so-called mini-
government, endowed with great powers. Its functions were: to ensure the stable
functioning of the Italian credit system; to develope key directions of credit policy; to
control all important structural changes in the banking system and the activities of the
Bank of Italy as a whole.
Despite the multiple functions, the Committee did not have the right to supervise
directly the credit system. This function was delegated to the Central Bank of Italy –
the Bank of Italy, established in 1893. Since then, the Bank of Italy has close relations
with the state, although it is a private joint-stock company. Since 1926, the Bank of
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