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 (Italian: casse di risparmio or singular cassa di risparmio) of Italy, or the foundation that originate from the reform trigger by Legge Amato.
The association was found in 1912 as Associazione fra le Casse di Risparmio Italiane (ACRI) (Association of Italian Savings Banks). Due to Legge Amato, the savings banks became banking foundations and their respective "companies by shares" (Italian: Società per azioni). After 25 years of merger and acquisitions, only 24 member banks (including banks with mount of piety origins) survived, with only eight of them were owned by their original banking foundations, plus Banca Carige that went fully publicly owned. The rest of the savings bank that survived from their establishments until 1991, became part of Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Banco BPM, UBI Banca, BPER Banca, Banca Popolare di Bari, Credito Valtellinese, Banca Carige, Banca di Asti, Crédit Agricole Italia and other banking group. Moreover, two more savings banks, Cariparma and Biverbanca were not members of ACRI.
The surviving banks were either independent banks (such as Banca Carige, Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna, Südtiroler Sparkasse, etc.), subsidiaries (e.g. Banca CR Firenze and Carisbo) or minority owned by major banking group (e.g. Banca di Asti and Banca Cassa di Risparmio di Savigliano).
ACRI members (the foundations) also owned 18.4% stake collectively in Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The members also involved in the investment fund F2i First and Second Fund.
In 2015 85 out of 86 member foundations of ACRI (except Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fossano) had signed a memorandum of understanding with Ministry of Economy and Finance for the new regulation on the assets of the foundations.[1]
According to ACRI, the collective shareholders' equity of 87 out of 88 foundations were €41,243,344,914. (including non-member Roma and Pisa but data from Carige was missing)[1] However, the value of the assets were based on the historic price, such as the price of the shares of the bank.
In 2016 the foundations were invited to invest back to banking sector by joining the private equity fund Atlante that aiming to recapitalize the weak bank and purchase the securitizated non-performing loan.[2]
