Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. ( , ; meaning 'general insurances') or simply Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2019, it is the largest of its kind in Italy and among the top ten largest insurance companies in the world by net premiums and assets. The company was founded on December 26, 1831, as ('Imperial and Royal Privileged Company for General Austrian-Italian Insurances'). At the time, Trieste was the most important seaport of the Austrian Empire. The company grew in importance, becoming one of the largest insurance operators both in Italy and in Central Europe. , the company ranks 57th on the Fortune Global 500 list of companies and 43rd on MITs worldwide "Smartest Companies" ranking in 2015. Generali's major competitors at the international level are AXA, Allianz and Zurich Insurance Group. Operations Generali operates primarily in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, with large market shares in Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany (under the name of Generali Deutschland), France, Austria, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia (as Generali Osiguranje), Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Israel, Japan, China and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with secondary operations in Latin America. Its United States operations are concentrated in financial products management, a result of the group's acquisition of Business Men's Assurance Company of America (BMA) in 1990 and travel insurance products as part of the Europ Assistance Group. In 2002, Generali sold BMA's life insurance arm to the Royal Bank of Canada. In 2013, Generali sold its US reinsurance arm to Scor. On Jerusalem's Jaffa Road, the Generali Building (בניין ג'נרלי), built by the company in 1935, is still known by that name although the company operated its Jerusalem branch in the building only from 1935 to 1946. The Generali Building is still owned by the Italian insurance firm through its local representative, the Migdal Insurance Company. The building currently houses various government offices, including the Jerusalem District Administration, the Ministry of Interior, the Department of Immigration and Population Registry, and the Internal Auditing Office. It is a famous Jerusalem landmark, due to the large and well-preserved stone statue of a winged lion on its roof; this is the Lion of Saint Mark, patron saint of Venice, and the symbol of the Generali insurance company which appears on all of its branches worldwide since 1848. In India, the company is represented by Future Generali, a joint venture of Future group