List of oldest banks in continuous operation



This list of the oldest banks includes financial institutions in continuous operation, operating with the same legal identity without interruption since their establishment until the present time.

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. Not to mention Banco di Napoli, whose origins date back to 1539, when the first mount of piety was established in Naples; the bank, absorbed by different entities between 2002-2018; according to some scholars its origin may be dated back to 1463; this would make the Bank of Naples the oldest bank in continuous operation until 2018, world-wide.

Literature

 * Manfred Pohl; Sabine Freitag (1994), Handbook on the History of European Banks, European Association for Banking History, Cambridge University Press.