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Saint Petersburg International Commercial Bank

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Former head office at Nevsky Prospect 58 in Saint Petersburg

The Saint Petersburg International Commercial Bank (Russian: Санкт-Петербургский международный коммерческий банк) was a major bank in the Russian Empire, founded in 1869 in Saint Petersburg. By the start of the 20th century it was Russia's second private-sector bank by assets, behind the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank,[1]: 43  and by 1914 it still held that rank behind the Russo-Asiatic Bank.[2]: 722  In late 1917 following the Russian Revolution, like all other commercial banks in Russia, it was absorbed into the State Bank with no compensation to its shareholders.[3]

Overview

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The bank's charter was approved by Alexander II on 9 June 1869. The bank's fixed capital was initially determined at 5 million rubles and was distributed into 20 thousand shares of 250 rubles each. It was initially backed by German investors, especially the Berlin-based Disconto-Gesellschaft.

In 1896, the International Commercial Bank became the largest shareholder of the newly established Russo-Chinese Bank, with 15.3 percent of the initial capital. It had close links with Russia's military-industrial complex and controlled over 50 companies in 1914, including rail carriers, industrial enterprises, and insurance companies.[4]

The bank was initially located at 6, Angliyskaya Embankment. In 1898, the bank moved to a new purpose-built head office at 58 Nevsky Prospekt on a design by architect Stanislas A. Brzhozovsky [ru].[4] The latter property was expanded in 1912 with an additional building facing Ekaterininskaya Street.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Nikita Lychakov (2018), Government-made bank distress: Industrialisation policies and the Russian financial crisis of 1899-1902 (PDF), Belfast: Queen's University Centre for Economic History
  2. ^ Michael Jabara Carley (November 1990), "From Revolution to Dissolution: The Quai d'Orsay, the Banque Russo-Asiatique, and the Chinese Eastern Railway, 1917-1926", The International History Review, 12:4 (4), Taylor & Francis: 721–761, JSTOR 40106277
  3. ^ George Garvy (1977). "The Origins and Evolution of the Soviet Banking System: An Historical Perspective" (PDF). Money, Financial Flows, and Credit in the Soviet Union. National Bureau of Economic Research.
  4. ^ a b "St. Petersburg International Commercial Bank". Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia.
  5. ^ "Kharkiv. Constitution Square". Travel Ukraine & World. 15 March 2022.