Some historical aspects of legal and structural development of banking in Russian empire
In this article the author examines some historical aspects of legal and structural development of banking in Russian empire. First acts of state regulation of banking in Russia refer to the historical period of the middle of XVIII century, however the most significant developments in banking were linked to the era of Emperor Alexander II, when the Central bank of Russian empire was established as well as economic preconditions for the development of credit institutions were created. By the beginning of the XX century a quite steady three-chain banking system was set up in Russia but it had serious shortcomings. In particular, the Central bank of Russia was under strong dependence from the policy of the Ministry of Finance and it didn't have necessary directive powers to develop Russian banking system as well as to control the activities of the commercial credit institutions. At the same time by the beginning of the World War I the banking system became the prominent part of the Russian economy, more than 600 credit institutions and about 1800 b ank's branches were functioning in the country. In the article the author studies the development of the Russian banking sphere up to the October revolution 1917.