Press Release

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group received the "Best Bank in Italy" award from Euromoney at a ceremony held in London.

This recognition related to the period running from April 2010 to March 2011 and was based on a whole range of criteria, including size, profitability, the ability to adapt to changing market conditions, customer service, market share of loans and deposits, direct revenues, loans to customers, capitalisation, the extent of the retail network, the corporate advisory service, project financing, risk management, Core Tier 1 capital and the cost/income ratio.

The rankings are produced annually by Euromoney, which is a leading publication for international banking and financial markets. The classification looks at both quantity and quality when assessing services and performance as well as using surveys involving institutional players in this sector.

Corrado Passera, Managing Director and CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, said "We are very proud of this award which confirms the goodness of the medium to long term decisions made by the Bank over the years: the orientation to real economy and the long-term relationships with clients; consistent strategies made of sustainable profitability consisting of operating management -revenues and costs- but also of low-risk profile and low leverage, strong liquidity and capital strength, the real commitment to corporate social responsibility and growth promotion."

Intesa Sanpaolo
Date: 18.07.2011