Monte di Credito su Pegno di Vicenza was an Italian

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

based in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

. It was originated as a

mount of piety A mount of piety is an institutional pawnbroker run as a charitable organization, charity in Europe from Renaissance times until today. Similar institutions were established in the colonies of Catholic countries; the Mexican Nacional Monte de Pie ...

known as Monte di Pietà di Vicenza. Due to , the

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

of the bank spin off its banking business as a ''

società per azioni ''Società'' (Italian: ''Society'') was an Italian communist cultural magazine published in Italy between 1945 and 1961. History and profile ''Società'' was founded as a quarterly magazine in Florence in 1945. The founders were Ranuccio Bianchi ...

'' in 1995, and sold the business to Cariverona Banca in 1996; the original legal person of the bank became Fondazione Monte di Pietà di Vicenza. The bank was known for its headquarters, in the Piazza dei Signori.

History

Monte di Pietà di Vicenza was founded in 1486 as a mount of piety ( it, monte di pietà), by Franciscan Marco da Montegallo in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, 24 years after the first recorded mount of Italy was founded in Perugia, by other

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, Bernardine of Feltre and Michele Carcano, in the Papal States. The was also owned by the mount. In 1822 the mount also founded Cassa di Risparmio di Vicenza, the local savings bank of the city, at that time part of the

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...

, in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

. It was closed in 1838 and re-open in 1913; in 1924 the savings bank was independent from the mount, but merged with

Cassa di Risparmio di Verona Cassa di Risparmio di Verona, Vicenza, Belluno e Ancona known as Cariverona in short, was an Italian savings bank headquartered in Verona. In 1991, due to , the bank was split into two organizations, Cassa di Risparmio di Verona, Vicenza, Belluno e ...

in 1927−28. In 1930s, the mount changed the name to Monte di Credito su Pegno di Vicenza, due to an enactment of a law regarding the denomination of the mounts of piety of Italy. Due to Legge Amato, the mount closed its banking activities by selling the business to Cariverona Banca (Cassa di Risparmio di Verona, Vicenza, Belluno e Ancona) in 1996, the successor of Cassa di Risparmio di Verona e Vicenza of 1927−28 merger, after the incorporation of the banking business as a subsidiary in

legal form on 24 November 1995, as Monte di Credito su Pegno di Vicenza S.p.A. The S.p.A. had a share capital of 2.6

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

lire, around ECU 1.2 million, the predecessor of

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

, in 1995 average exchange rate; since the introduction of euro, the share capital was set at €1,341,600, divided by €5.16 per share. According to Italian law (literally joint-law of bank and

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...

), the mount was classified as a second category mount, which had to cease its banking (lending) activities before 1 January 1996.

Banking foundation

The original legal person of the bank was also renamed to Fondazione Monte di Pietà di Vicenza in 1995, which continued the charity function of the mount, as a banking foundation. , the major assets of the banking foundation, was a subsidiary called Palazzo del Monte S.p.A., for a book value of €1.6 million. The S.p.A. was formerly known as Monte di Credito su Pegno di Vicenza S.p.A., which changed to current name circa 2004. The foundation was 1 of the 86 member banking foundations of the trade association

Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio S.p.A. Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio S.p.A. (Association of Foundations and Savings Banks) is an Italian banking association. The members were the savings banks ( it, casse di risparmio or singular ''cassa di risparmio'') of Italy, or ...

Palazzo del Monte di Pietà

Palazzo del Monte di Pietà is the historical headquarters of the bank. Nowadays, it is a tourist attraction.

References

External links

Official website of the Fondazione Monte di Pietà di Vicenza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monte Di Credito Su Pegno Di Vicenza Mounts of piety Defunct banks of Italy 1486 establishments in Europe 15th-century establishments in the Republic of Venice Organizations established in the 1480s Banks disestablished in 1996 Italian companies disestablished in 1996 Companies based in Vicenza