Banca Nazionale del Lavoro

(National Bank of Labor), an Italian commercial bank, one of the ten largest banks in the world.

Founded in 1913 as a private bank with a capital of 7.5 million lire, the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro was originally called the Instituto Nazionale di Credito per la Cooperazione (National Credit Institution of Cooperation). The bank was acquired by the government the same year it was founded, and its capital was greatly expanded. The bank received its present name in 1929.

The Banca Nazionale del Lavoro supplies short-term credit to the major branches of industry, as well as to other banks and to such institutions as insurance companies and stock exchanges. It also grants medium-term and long-term credits through seven independent, specialized divisions. The bank has close connections with the major privately owned monopolies of the country and is a major source of capital for the world market. The bank’s administrative offices are in Rome.

As of 1973, the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro had 232 branches in Italy; branches in New York, London, and Madrid; and foreign representation in Paris, Frankfurt am Main, Brussels, Montreal, Singapore, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, and a number of Latin American countries. The bank also owns a subsidiary bank in Zürich, a holding company in Luxembourg, and finance companies in Tokyo and the Netherlands Antilles. The bank’s total balance as of Jan. 1, 1973, was 18, 200 billion lire. Of this sum, 218 billion lire represented reserves; 9, 615 billion lire was held as deposits; and 7, 844 billion lire was outstanding through discounting and loan operations.