FinecoBank S.p.A., known as FinecoBank or just Fineco is an Italian bank that specializes in online brokerage.[2] Launched in 1999 with its Fineco Online service for retail traders,[3] Fineco became a listed company in 2014 and has been independent from UniCredit banking group since 2019.[4]
FinecoBank is a constituent of FTSE MIB (since 2016), the blue chip index of the Borsa Italiana.[5] Since 2015 it has over a million customers in Italy, where its role has been compared to that of Schwab in USA.[3]
The predecessor of Fineco was a financial institution known as GI-FIN S.r.l. in 1982 and then GI-FIN S.p.A. from October 1982.[7] In 1983, the institution was incorporated as Istituto per le Cessioni del Quinto S.p.A. (ICQ),[7] which later known as Novara ICQ S.p.A.[8]: 665 and then ICQ Banca Cisalpina S.p.A..[7][9] ICQ Banca Cisalpina was a subsidiary of Banca Popolare di Novara (BP Novara).[7] In 1990–91, BP Novara owned 51.21% shares of ICQ Banca Cisalpina.[8]: 665 [10]: 126 ICQ Banca Cisalpina was also a listed company, which was delisted in 1996 by its new owner Banca Popolare di Brescia (Bipop).[11][12]
In 1999, Bipop merged with Cassa di Risparmio di Reggio Emilia (Carire) to form Bipop Carire.[7] As of 1990, Banca Popolare di Brescia also partially owned the namesakes Fin-Eco Leasing (33.33%) and Fin-Eco Factoring (30%).[10]: 125 As of 1994, Bipop owned the aforementioned companies via an intermediate holding company Fin-Eco Holding.[13] The Holding also owned another subsidiary Fin-Eco SIM.[13] Bipop also attempted to acquire another namesake Cisalpina Gestioni in 1994.[13]
After the 1999 merger, the banking group re-organized ICQ Banca Cisalpina as well as Fin-Eco Leasing and Fin-Eco Factoring.[14]
FinecoBank
ICQ Banca Cisalpina was renamed to "Fin-Eco Banca ICQ S.p.A." (Banca Fin-Eco in short) in 1999,[7] which was considered as the launch date of the current Fineco.[15][16] In 2002, Bipop Carire and Fineco became part of Capitalia banking group.[17] In 2007, Capitalia was absorbed into UniCredit banking group, while Fineco was kept as a separate subsidiary.
In 2014 FinecoBank started its initial public offering.[15] In 2016 UniCredit sold a further 30% shares to public market.[18][19][20] In May 2019, UniCredit sold another 17% shares of FinecoBank.[2] As UniCredit owned 18% shares of FinecoBank after the transaction, FinecoBank is no longer an associate company of UniCredit.[21]
In 2020, Fineco decided to spend 7 million euros on a marketing campaign to grow its services in UK,[22] whose launch was authorised earlier in the same year.[23]
FinecoBank Banca Fineco serves customers in the United Kingdom and Italy.[24]
UniCredit sold its remaining stake in FinecoBank in 2019.[25]
^ abcdef"La fase iniziale". Prospetto [Prospectus] (PDF) (in Italian). FinecoBank. 2014. p. 114.
^ abWhiteside, R. M.; Wilson, A.; Blackburn, S.; Hörnig, S. E.; Wilson, C. P. (1991). "Major Companies of Italy". In Whiteside, R. M.; Wilson, A.; Blackburn, S.; Hörnig, S. E.; Wilson, C. P. (eds.). Major Companies of Europe 1991-1992 Vol.1 : Major Companies of the Continental European Community. London: Graham & Trotman (Kluwer Academic Publishers Group). pp. 651–750. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-3016-5_7. ISBN978-1-85333-598-3.
^ abWhiteside, R. M.; Forsyth, J.; Wilson, A. (1990). "Major Companies of Italy". In Whiteside, R. M.; Forsyth, J.; Wilson, A. (eds.). Major Financial Institutions of Continental Europe 1990/91. London: Graham & Trotman (Kluwer Academic Publishers Group). pp. 121–140. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-3022-6_9. ISBN978-1-85333-471-9.
^Bilancio al 31 dicembre 2002 [2002 Annual Repoort] (PDF) (in Italian). Capitalia. 2003. Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2019 – via Borsa Italiana.
