Alberto Foglia, one of the great protagonists of Italian finance, has passed away at the age of 93. Son of Antonio Foglia, who had been the first president of the Italian Stock Exchange after the Second World War, he was the animator – at the time of the Borsa delle Crime – of one of the main stockbroker firms in Milan, together with his brother Giambattista and another piece from the nineties of Italian finance like Isidoro Albertini.
In 1958 Alberto Foglia founded the Banca del Ceresio in Lugano, again in the company of his brother Giambattista, and later the Afv Sim, again together with the then president of the Italian Stock Exchange, Attilio Ventura. Afv Sim then became Banca Leonardo.
These few notes would be enough to outline the role of absolute protagonist of Alberto Foglia in Italian finance. But, by virtue of his international knowledge perfected in New York and Montevideo after graduating from Bocconi, Foglia was also a pioneer of alternative investments and not by chance he became a friend of the famous financier George Soros by virtue of his brokerage business in Italian shares for foreign investors.
But for him finance was not an end in itself but a tool to support economic development. His civic and idealistic commitment was also strong, which often led him to take on decidedly innovative and counter-current positions.
