Foreign activity of Russian banks : reconsidering multinational banking theory

Abstract

The present paper targets activity of Russian banks expanding their businesses abroad. Within the framework of existing multinational theory we examine motivation, entry modes and strategies of Russian foreign banks. We demonstrated on the example of Russia that distinctive features of banking sectors of host and home countries, offshore business of Russian banks, hidden forms of expansion through third countries, role of banks in other outward foreign investments, non-transparency of legal actors of foreign banks and their strong interrelation with the state and recourse-based TNCs and large financial and industrial groups, cultural and historical background among the host and home countries, all these factors in fact do matter and should be considered when investigating the foreign expansion of banks. Some suggestions were made in order to extend existing theoretical base on multinational banking theory.