TIMELINE
1929: Banca Commerciale Italiana France (Comitfrance) branch opened in Casablanca.
1961: Stake in Banque Nationale pour le developpement economique (BNDE) acquired by Banca Commerciale Italiana.
1962: Comitfrance's branches nationalized and transferred to Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur, in which Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) later acquired a stake.
2005: Sanpaolo IMI representative office opened in Casablanca.

Banca Commerciale Italiana France, known in Italy as Comitfrance, set up a branch in Casablanca in 1929 in order to have a direct presence in the French protectorate. The activities of the branch, which the bank's Rabat agency both expanded and supported, involved mainly import-related transactions.
In the early 1960s, as the Moroccan nationalist movement gathered steam, the Casablanca branch and the Rabat agency were sold to the country's leading bank, Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur, in exchange for a stake in the latter that enabled Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) to become its second largest shareholder, after the Moroccan state.
Although BCI did not take part in subsequent capital increases, it continued to enjoy a privileged relationship with respect to business activities between Italy and Morocco.
In 2005 Sanpaolo IMI opened its own representative office in Casablanca; after that bank merged with Banca Intesa it was transferred to Intesa Sanpaolo.