Moscow Narodny Bank

(Mosnarbank), a joint-stock commercial bank located in London. The bank was founded in October 1919 with an initial capital of £250, 000; its original stockholders were Soviet cooperative societies engaged in foreign transactions. In 1973 the bank’s capital and reserves exceeded £11 million. Current stockholders include the State Bank of the USSR (Gosbank), the Bank for Foreign Trade of the USSR (Vneshtorgbank), and a number of foreign-trade associations and other state organizations.

The Moscow Narodny Bank is linked with the banks of the foreign socialist countries, as well as with banks in Great Britain and a number of other capitalist countries. The bank plays the leading role in financing trade between these countries and also conducts banking operations in areas other than trade. The bank actively cooperates with banks in a number of the developing nations and has branches in Beirut and Singapore. The bank’s volume of transactions has grown constantly. Its total balance at the start of 1973 was £585 million; attracted capital totaled £562 million, and loans and discounted bills equaled £501 million.