Resumen de National and International Private Bankers and the Building of the Italian Credit and Financial System during Italian Unification

Marina Romani, Luciano Maffi

• The Italian credit and financial system was the result of progressive developments that accelerated during the process of Italian unifica- tion. Our essay analyses the role of local private bankers in mod- ernizing the economic and financial system of the country and the way in which the gradual increase of social capital – an asset con- sisting of interpersonal relations – fostered cooperation among Ital- ian bankers in a period in which it was easier to create trust in people rather than in institutions. Using documents from the Archives General du Travail (Roubaix) we have sought to demon- strate that the close relationship between Italian private bankers and the international haute banque permitted both easier placement of Italian public bonds on the local market and the progressive inte- gration of the national financial market. Italian public debt thus be- came one of the means to create the national state.