The work analyses the ownership structures of a sample of Italian banks and financial intermediaries between 2016 and 2021. Corporate control patterns, concentration of ownership, types of shareholders, and the presence of common investors with a higher weight than non-common ones (common ownership) are studied. Changes are assessed in light of the innovations introduced by the 2015 reform of 'popolari' banks and the self-reform initiated in the same year by Italian banking foundations.
A growing presence of shareholders with holdings above the thresholds for reporting to market authority Consob or the Bank of Italy, mainly Italian residents, has been noted. The presence of controlling shareholders is more common among financial intermediaries than in banks. Institutional investors are the most common type of shareholder, and they are associated with a growing practice of the same investor being present in multiple intermediaries; however, common ownership remains limited.
