List of oldest banks in continuous operation
Depending on the definition, the world's oldest bank is either Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena or Berenberg Bank. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in its present form in 1624, but traces its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472. The Berenberg company was founded in 1590 and has operated continuously ever since with the same family as owners or major co-owners. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is today a large Italian retail bank, while Berenberg Bank is primarily involved in investment banking and private banking for wealthy customers; in any event Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest merchant bank or investment bank. The world's oldest central bank is the Sveriges Riksbank, which was founded in 1668.
BSI Ltd
BSI had been the oldest bank in the Swiss canton of Ticino until its integration into EFG Bank and the following renaming into EFG, which took place in 2017. Founded in 1873 in Lugano as the Banca della Svizzera Italiana, BSI was an institution that specialises in asset management and related services for private and institutional clients. In 1998, the bank became part of the Italian Generali group, one of the world's biggest insurance companies. In July 2014, Generali sold BSI to BTG Pactual for $1.7 billion USD, a deal that CEO of the bank, André Esteves stated would make BTG Pactual a “global player in the asset management arena.”