In 1921, coinciding with the entry of the shareholding of the well-known Piedmontese financier Riccardo Gualino, a phase of strong territorial expansion was opened to the Italian Agricultural Bank. As early as the following year, the Turin bank absorbed from the Industrial Agrarian Bank of Casale Monferrato and, still in the first months of 1922, started a strategy of penetration in the Como and Varese area through the initial creation of the Como branch, followed by soon from those of Mariano Comense (May '22), Erba Incino (July), Cantù (August), Besana Brianza, Carate Brianza, Lecco, Malnate and Merate (October) to end with those of Varese, Tradate, Gavirate, Oggiono and Laveno. The expansion of Banca Agricola Italiana would also continue in the following years through the acquisition in 1924 of Credito Piemontese (in the competition with the Bank of Italy) and in 1927 of Banca Biellese and the General Bank of the Sorrento Peninsula. The latter operations, however, not organized brought the hoped-for results, so much so that the Turin institute, which by now practically made to rely on a network of networks in almost all the Italian regions, which worked very exhaustively at exercise. Moreover, the difficult situation of the company intersects with the equally negative situation of Riccardo Gualino. Precisely, in 1929, he asked the Bank of Italy and the Treasury for help, with the qualification provided by an agreement to save Banca Agricola Italiana. The rescue attempt, however, would have failed bitterly, thus forcing the Gualino to progressively cede its social quota, acquired by the Bank of Italy, and to a process of dismembering the networks of operations that ended up being acquired by different credit sectors, including the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the San Paolo Institute of Turin, the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and the Banca Commerciale Italiana. In 1932, the liquidation procedure began for the Banca Agricola Italiana.
