Moscow Narodny Bank Limited

Moscow Narodny Bank Limited; Moscow Narodny Bank Ltd; MNB

Moscow Narodny Bank Limited, London was created as an independent bank in 1919 on the basis of the London branch of the Moscow Narodny Bank, which had operated in London since 1915.

In 1919 due to disruption of relations with the parent company due to nationalization in Russia it was decided to protect the right of the London branch of the bank to exist and incorporate it as a British legal entity. The bank Heads Jean Bubnov and Konstantin Popov submitted an application to register it as an English limited liability company, which was registered in London on October 18, 1919 as a company of England and Wales under number No.159752.

Declared authorized capital stock of MNB is £250,000. Original shareholding structure: Moscow Narodny Bank, Centrosoyuz, Central Association of Flax Growers, Selskosoyuz and Zakupsbyt.

Primary goal of the bank was financing of international trade of the Russian cooperative organizations with Britain and other countries. MNB became the first cooperative bank created as international trade-support facility.

During 1924 the bank balance increased 2.5 fold and in the end of the year amounted to £2.4 million, and the bank’s capital stock increased to £500,000. In 1925 the capital stock doubled to £1 million. Such growth allowed MNB to open its branches in Paris in 1925 and in Berlin in 1928. In 1926 the bank agency was established in New York.

In 1932 MNB took over the Russian Trade Bank established in London in 1923.

Resolution of the Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors of MNB of March 1933: “the bank buys 1000 shares of the Dalbank Harbin bank for 50 thousand dollars in silver”. In 1933 the bank took over the Shanghai branch of Dalbank.

Paris branch of the bank was closed in 1934, branch in Berlin – in 1935.

By the end of 1948 the capital of the bank increased up to £15.5 million (1945 – £1.5 million).

In May 1950 the Shanghai branch of MNB was closed.

In 1952 the balance reduced to £6 million.

In 1959 the former Head of the Shanghai branch Andrey Dubonosov was appointed to a managerial position in the London branch of the bank. During the period from 1958 till 1960 the number of staff members increased from 40 to almost 100.

From 1960 till 1969 assets have grown from £55.6 million to £331.9 million, and the paid-in capital have grown fourfold during this period and amounted to £5 million.

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Wikipedia