Intesa Sanpaolo Bank is the name under which it officially operates in Romania, starting with the 14th of January 2008, the biggest financial group from Italy and one of the first 10 in the world. The history of this bank on the local market started since 1996 in the West of the country, at Arad, as a financial institution specialized in products and services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The objective of the Bank is to become a quality leader, offering its customers innovative products and services that will make a difference on the Romanian banking market. Intesa Sanpaolo is the banking group which was formed by the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI. The merger brought together two major Italian banks with shared values so as to increase their opportunities for growth, enhance service for retail customers, significantly support the development of businesses and make an important contribution to the country's growth. Intesa Sanpaolo is among the top banking groups in the euro zone, with a market capitalisation of 50.3 billion euro (April 2015). Intesa Sanpaolo is the leader in Italy in all business areas (retail, corporate, and wealth management). The Group offers its services to 11.1 million customers through a network of approximately 4,500 branches well distributed throughout the country with market shares no lower than 13% in most Italian regions. Intesa Sanpaolo has a selected presence in Central Eastern Europe and Middle Eastern and North African areas with approximately 1,400 branches and 8.4 million customers belonging to the Group's subsidiaries operating in retail and commercial banking in 12 countries.Moreover, an international network of specialists in support of corporate customers spreads across 29 countries, in particular in the Middle East and North Africa and in those areas where Italian companies are most active, such as the United States, Russia, China and India.