Russian Federation Financial Sector Assessment Program : Role of State in Financial Services
State-owned financial institutions fall into three main groups: commercial banks, hybrid banks, and development institutions. The larger state-owned commercial banks/ groups include Sberbank, the VTB Bank group, and Gazprombank. Like private commer...
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26739419/russian-federation-financial-sector-assessment-program-technical-note-role-state-financial-services http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25067 |
| Summary: | State-owned financial institutions fall
into three main groups: commercial banks, hybrid banks, and
development institutions. The larger state-owned commercial
banks/ groups include Sberbank, the VTB Bank group, and
Gazprombank. Like private commercial banks, these
institutions do not have a policy mandate and are profit
maximizing, and target similar market segments. The main
state hybrid bank is the Russian Agricultural Bank (RAB),
which has a policy mandate to focus on agribusiness, while
also engaging in broader commercial banking activities. The
principal state development institution is the VEB group,
which has a broad policy mandate, subject to a legal
obligation not to compete with commercial credit
institutions. It on-lends or directly lends to firms, but
does not collect retail deposits.1 There are also several
smaller state-owned banks that primarily engage in
commercial activities and are owned by sub-national
entities. The authorities should continue pursuing the
gradual privatization of state-owned commercial banks, as
economic conditions permit. There may be benefits to
revisiting the role and structure of the state hybrid and
development institutions, with corporate governance reforms
being a priority.State-owned financial institutions should
not be used to bail out struggling commercial banks. In
other respects, the administration of financial subsidies
appears to follow a number of good principles, although
coordination could be improved. There have been many
positive changes in the corporate governance of state-owned
banks in recent years. reform of the current ownership
structure could support the spread of good corporate
governance practices. The composition and functioning of
many SOB boards is an area that requires attention. Finally,
SOB lending to SOEs should be conducted on an arm’s length
basis and on commercial terms. |
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