The local community soul into the Italian bank foundations. A travel into their “bank” origins

Italian bank foundations (IBFs) are nonprofit organizations deeply rooted in the territories they serve, that originated from nineteenth-century public savings banks with a vocation of strong solidarity to their local communities. Savings banks were characterized by boards that involved local authorities as representatives informed about needs of the territories. Despite a strong link with the community still portrays existing community-owned foundations, little is known on how this relationship commenced. For a better understanding of the link with the community that nowadays characterizes IBFs, this study investigates the history of the Verona’s savings bank from its birth in 1825 to the establishment of the homonymous bank foundation in 1991. The analysis of the statutes outlines the evolution over time of the governance and depicts a resilient attention to involve local community representatives in governance matters all over the time, despite historical, social and economic events.