Uscire dalla crisi. Comunicazioni interne sul salvataggio della Banca Commerciale Italiana

The book reveals the efforts of a young banker at the time of the Great Depression to rehabilitate Banca Commerciale Italiana, saved in October 1931 through the intervention of the Italian state. It was a time of the great risk, commitment and creativity in the life of Raffaele Mattioli, appointed head of Comit in 1933 at the age of just 38.

Guided by philological notes and explanations, the reader sees him in action as he urges his associates at all levels not only to rationalise and “cut the deadwood out”, but most importantly to reconfigure the bank’s ordinary work (assessing creditworthiness and growing its small and medium-sized clientele) by retraining its managers; his aim was to quickly reach a balanced budget position and avoid resorting to State aid.

Interesting for the solutions introduced at the height of Fascism, ahead of other Italian businesses (the Bank’s ‘constitutional’ organisation, collective decision-making processes for the Central Administration and the devolution of production towards the branch managers), these internal – and confidential – papers are a particularly fine, incise example of technical and management prose.