The Istituto Mobiliare Italiano was established as a public body on 13 November 1931, with involvement of Alberto Beneduce and Felice Guarneri, in response to the European banking crisis of 1931 in a context of distress of the three main Italian universal banks, namely Banca Commerciale Italiana, Banco di Roma, and Credito Italiano.
In its initial half-decade of activity, however, IMI granted only two loans, one to the Acciaierie di Terni and the other to Italgas, while the other two public credit institutions created in the same period, Crediop and ICIPU [it], largely replaced the banks in their respective areas of focus.
The authorities of the Marshall Plan did not trust the funds to be managed directly by the Italian State, fearing that they could be diverted for political purposes.
The governor of the Bank of Italy, Donato Menichella [it], who was a member of the Italian delegation that negotiated the Marshall Plan implementation, proposed that the funds be managed by IMI.
[1] In 1950, IMI moved to a head office building on Via delle Quattro Fontane, designed by architecture firm Studio Passarelli.