Consorzio di Credito per le Opere Pubbliche (Crediop) was found by Alberto Beneduce in 1919 as a public entity.

[4] Due to Legge Amato, In 1992 it became a società per azioni (limited company) from statutory corporation ,[5] which San Paolo Bank Holding S.p.A. (52.3%), Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino S.p.A. (37%) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (10.7%) were the shareholders.

The bank followed the parent company to merge with Istituto Mobiliare Italiano to form Sanpaolo IMI in 1998.

Sanpaolo IMI sold further 40% shares to Dexia for about €403 million,[8] However, Dexia re-sold the 40% shares to Banca Popolare di Verona – Banco SGSP (became part of Banco Popolare in 2007),[9] Banca Popolare di Milano,[10] Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna[11] and Banca Popolare di Bergamo – Credito Varesino (through BPB Partecipazioni), by buying 4% shares and convertible bonds equivalent to 6% share capital, for a total of 200 billion lire each (about €103 million for each bank).

In 2011, Dexia suffered big losses due to the European debt crisis and the debt haircut on Greek government bonds, leading to the design of an orderly resolution plan for the Dexia Group, validated by the European Commission in 2012.