This refers to the round table of 1972 organized by the “Rassegna degli archivi di stato” itself, where, for the first time, an attempt was made to bring together economic historians who supported the initiative, and entrepreneurs who did not accept the invitation. Previous to that occasion, there was only limited interest in bank archives: the publication of two volumes on historical archives of credit companies by the Italian banker association dates back to 1956, while work on archives of manufacturing businesses was sporadic.