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PERSPECTIVES

Secolo Italiano: Citi's 100 Years in Italy

October 04, 2016
Silvia Boschetti, Public Affairs Officer Citi Italy

When The National City Bank of New York opened its first Italian branch in Genoa on 9th October 1916, one of its first clients was an Italian automaker, in addition to many other prominent Italian firms. As World War I intensified, City Bank's Italian operation provided extensive assistance to the United States military, while many City Bank employees volunteered with the Italian Red Cross to tend to the needs of the wounded, regardless of nationality. City Bank also helped open institutes for the blind and the crippled by combat, and made significant contributions to veterans' hospitals.

By 1925, City Bank shifted headquarters to Milan. As the only U.S. bank in Italy, the bank was well positioned to finance and facilitate the growth of foreign trade flowing in and out of the country. As City Bank grew and prospered, more leading Italian companies, including tire manufacturers, energy companies, and other leading auto, and consumer goods companies, became loyal and satisfied long-term clients.

Over the next forty years, City Bank supported the expansion of major U.S. corporations and multinationals in Italy while helping Italian companies expand their products and services around the world. In 1967, City Bank opened a second branch in Rome. In 1976, shortly after First National City Bank became Citibank -- a new name that would become synonymous in Italy with unparalleled service and innovation -- two new branches were opened in Torino and Bologna.

Over the years, Citi continued to build on its legacy in Italy, and is today a leader in the Italian market across all institutional client group businesses. By 2015, Citi was the second largest international bank in corporate and investment banking measured by market share, across M&A, Equity and Debt Capital Markets origination. Our fixed income business was also the highest ranked in 2015.

Our long-term investment in Italy has been more than merely financial. Through the Citi Foundation and our partnership with Bocconi University in Milan, we launched Empowering Youth Entrepreneurship, a two-year project aimed at helping young people develop new business ideas and promoting innovation by start-ups. The focus of the collaboration with Bocconi is addressing the challenge of youth unemployment, which is a major societal issue in Italy and all across Europe.

We also partner with Junior Achievement to support its educational programs, including one that aims to teach entrepreneurial skills to high school students. Last year, Junior Achievement's Company Program reached 214 classes and engaged 5,440 students. Our Citi Italy employees have volunteered their time, skills and expertise to support the students' nascent business ideas.

After a century of living and working in Italy, we're proud to have served Italy and legacy Italian companies through good times and bad. We've been instrumental in helping to transform a number of Italian companies into global brand icons.

On behalf of our local team here, I can only hope that our second century of enabling growth and progress in Italy proves to be as successful as our first.

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