History of the Banco di Sardegna

Banco di Sardegna di Cagliari was founded in 1944, initially operating only as an industrial lender.

In 1953, it merged with ICAS, the Istituto di Credito Agrario per la Sardegna, to form the Banco di Sardegna, a public-sector bank with its registered office in Cagliari and its HQ in Sassari.

In 1970 it set up an Independent Section for the funding of public works and infrastructure for public benefit; then, in 1982, it adopted new Articles of Association and set up a special “Farmers’ Credit” Section. There were also plans for two other separate branches, one for lending to craft enterprises and the other for funding emigration.

Major changes for the bank came in 1992 with the approval (under the “Amato Act”) of a plan for its institutional, organisational and operational transformation into a joint stock company.

This led to the emergence of two separate entities: one was the new “Banco di Sardegna SpA” which incorporated not only the original banking firm but also the three existing Special Sections for medium-long term lending (Farms, Property and Public Works), while the other was the “Fondazione Banco di Sardegna”, which continued the work of the earlier public-sector lending institution.

In 1992 the bank also took part in the recapitalization of the Banca Popolare di Sassari, in which it took a controlling interest, eventually changing its name to Banca di Sassari SpA.

2001 saw the completion of the operation whereby the majority stake in Banco di Sardegna (and indirectly in its various subsidiaries) was acquired by the Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna, of which Banca di Sassari became a “sub-holding”.