Abstract

The Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archives were founded in 1984 as the Historical Archives of Banca commerciale italiana. Following this model, Banca Intesa established the unified historical Archives in January 2003, with the purpose of collecting the rich documentary inheritance left by the main three legacy banks, namely Cassa di risparmio delle Provincie lombarde (established in 1823), Banco Ambrosiano veneto (1892) and Banca commerciale italiana (1894). As of March 2009, the Archives also manage the historical records of IMIIstituto Mobiliare Italiano, established in Rome in 1931. The Cassa di risparmio delle Provincie lombarde (Savings Bank of Lombardy) was founded in 1823. Cariplo, unlike the majority of contemporary savings banks, was a regional and not a local savings bank and acted as the central bank in Lombardy for many decades. The paper describes the most significant stages in the formation of the CARIPLO documentary heritage and explains the framework to understand both the complex structure of the Cariplo Historical Archives and their importance and value for historical research. Finally, the essay analyses characteristics, problems, and achievements in the management of this documentary heritage within the new model of Intesa Sanpaolo Group Archives. In particular, the article is focused both upon the transition "from the storage to structuring" and on the need to increase the outreach through both external and internal communication.