ON THE REGULATION OF INVESTMENT BANKING IN RUSSIA

Analytical documents of the Bank of Russia and financial statements of large Russian banks indicate the growth in incomes from operations with securities within the gross share of revenues of commercial banks. In the world, there are cases of excessive activity of commercial banks in the security market (the Great Depression of 1929-1933 in the USA, default on state treasury bills in Russia on the 17th August 1998), which led to negative consequences for bank clients. The author analyzed peculiarities of investment transactions conducted by commercial banks in Russia. The author gives recommendations to reduce financial risks for the commercial banks’ customers and promote the attractiveness of the investment banking products. The author’s concept of regulation of banking activity in Russia consists of two directions: regulation of classical banking (income from lending operations exceeds income from operations in the securities market) and regulation of investment banking (the predominance of investment operations). The author justifies the necessity of the introduction of mandatory insurance of funds invested in equity securities of Russian issuers admitted to circulation on the Moscow Stock Exchange in the event of bankruptcy of issuers. The paper critically evaluates the recommendation of the Bank of Russia that professional participants in the securities market should not offer complex investment products to unqualified investors as this restricts the application of derivative securities for hedging financial risks. The author suggests the requirements for the equity capital of professional participants of the securities market and the methodology for calculating the equity capital separately for classical and investment banks.

investment banking, regulation of investment banking, operations in the securities market, professional participants in the securities market, investment product