About the Department of Finance and Banking

We see our mission in training competitive specialists involved in the financial sector development, capable of having a responsible impact on financial processes.

In the mission, we focus on three areas: education and research, the desire for innovation and trust in intercultural relations, solidarity and equal opportunity.

Our strategic goal

We aim to become the best Centre for building a new generation of highly competitive professionals to ensure a sustainable future for the financial system at the national and global levels.

The value system

The value system determining the Department’s strength and development vector is reflected in the Corporate Code of Conduct and Culture.  Policies and procedures that support ethical and lawful conduct are formalized and fixed in local regulations of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Finance and Banking.

The value system that the Department community adheres to is as follows:

• Humanism and human rights: responsibility for any and all acts, compliance with sustainable development goals in its three dimensions (economic, environmental and social), tolerance, openness, collegiality and friendliness in formal and informal discussions and problem solving;
• Creation of conditions for attracting talents, conditions for creative freedom and creativity, equal opportunities to participate in research projects, comfortable environment for all team members
• Cooperation – open interaction with domestic and foreign higher education institutions, professional community, establishment of sustainable partnerships,
• to promote academic mobility, continuous development of qualifications and competencies, and a cohesive team where everyone is responsible for the overall result for the benefit of the Department.
• Achieving maximum educational results, using effective mechanisms and motivational incentives for optimal use of human, material and financial resources.
• Continuity – loyalty to traditions, inheritance of the best experience and enriching it with new ideas that determine the Department’s development vector, increased attention to the elders, recognition of their merits, honoring and rewarding honored employees.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) as a guide for education, research, publication and other activities. On May 8, 2015 we joined the UN Global Compact. 

Department History 

The Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation has been training specialists for the banking sector since the early 1990s. The rapid growth of commercial banks during this period necessitated short-term training programs.

In 1994, “Banking” Training and Methodological Center was established on the initiative of S.S. Nasibyan at the Institute of Higher Management Personnel of the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation. The Center started its activity with professional development programs. In 1995, the Center moved to professional retraining programs for financial and credit sector specialists, and then to reduced higher education programs. This logic was dictated by market needs at each specific stage of financial and banking business development in Russia.

In the mid-1990s, several programs were being implemented at the Centre, namely: Banking, Insurance, Real Estate Business. The Banking Program was the most developed. This was facilitated by the successful cooperation with American colleagues from Barents Group within the Master Bank Trainers Program sponsored by USAID (United States Agency for International Development). The project lasted for 2 years (1995—1997).

In 1997 it became clear that the formation of a new banking system in Russia should be facilitated by the training of a new generation of bankers with professional management tools. As a result of the USAID project, a competition was announced on “Development of Banking Education in Russia”. Faculty members of the Banking Center received invitations for the development of proposals, and were trained in the USA (Washington, DC, George Washington University). As part of the project, they have practiced in a number of American commercial banks.

Upon returning from Washington, DC, focusing on management training, the Center’s faculty offered several professional retraining programs, including the Executive MBA, which was innovative for that period. For the first time program graduates were awarded diplomas certifying their right to work in bank management.

At the same time, the Center has started training specialists for the financial and banking sector on shortened higher education programs. In 1998 the Training and Methodological Banking Center was transformed into the Banking Management Training Center in the Higher School “Institute of Management and Marketing”, the Banking, Finance and Insurance Department was created under the direction of S.S. Nasibyan.

Foundation of the Department

In 2001, the Department of Finance and Banking (DFB) was established on the basis of the Center for Banking Management by the decision of the Academic Council of the Academy of National Economy under the Russian Government. Since 2001, S.S. Nasibyan has been the Dean of the Department at the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation, and from 2010 to the present time (in connection with the merger of the two academies) – Dean of the DFB at the Presidential Academy (RANEPA).

First programs

In 2001, for the first time the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation recruited for a five-year higher education program in finance and credit. And in 2006, the first graduates came out. One of the 2006 graduates – Vladimir Kolychev – is currently working as Deputy Finance Minister of Russia. It’s definitely his great merit. And we are proud of him and happy for him.

In 2002 the launch of a series of professional retraining programs for specialists from the Bank of Russia’s central administration and territorial institutions was a significant event for the Department. In the same year, the staff of the Department began to implement programs to prepare a reserve for nomenclature positions in territorial offices and Moscow branches of Sberbank of Russia. In 2003 the new specialized MBA program “Banks” was accredited. From that time on, MBA programs of the Department have been demanded and developed.

In 2004, the Department of Finance and Banking began developing and later launched a double-degree program in cooperation with the Swiss Business School (SBS).

In 2007-2008 an important step for the Department was its participation in the innovative educational project “Adaptive innovative training of managerial staff in the continuous professional education system”, funded under the national project “Education”. The faculty members have created more than 23 innovative educational and methodical complexes, and they had the opportunity to undergo training in foreign banks.

New stage of development

With the transition to a two-level education system, a new stage in the development of the Department begins. In 2010 the Department was accredited and started the implementation of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in economics and management, later – in finance and credit.

Since 2011 the Department has been a member of international associations of business schools and professional associations. In 2011 the Department received its first accreditation from the Central and East European Management Development Association (CEEMAN).

As signatories to the UN Global Compact on Sustainable Development, we follow financial initiatives, guided by the principles of responsible banking, socially responsible investment, corporate financial and non-financial reporting. In all our activities, we are guided by PRME

“In its activities, the Department is guided by six PRME principles:

1. develop the students’ ability to perform in the dynamically changing environment in the global economy, adhering to universal human values;
2. develop and implement innovative educational programs, develop scientific and methodological work, mechanisms for interacting with the government, wider public and business on the basis of ethical standards;
3. create a modern educational infrastructure, teaching methods and models that will ensure graduates success in their professional activities;
4. participate in fundamental and applied research that will determine the vector of our influence on the achievement of sustainable development goals in the social, environmental and economic areas;
5. collaborate with corporate managers to expand our knowledge of their problems in carrying out applied research, and jointly develop effective approaches to solving these problems;
6. promote and support dialogue and debate among academic staff, students, business, government, consumers, the media, civil society organizations and with stakeholders on critical issues;”