A few days after the
1921 Persian coup d'état, the
Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship was signed on 26 February 1921 in Moscow at the instigation of
Reza Khan and of the Soviet authorities. Under that treaty, the Russia-owned
Loan and Discount Bank of Persia was handed over to the new Persian authorities. The RIB was originally established in September 1923 as the
Russo-Persian Banking Office for Credit and Payment Services for Trade Between Iran and the USSR and Assistance to the Development of Iranian Agriculture and Industry (). Its founders were a mix of local merchants and the
Russo-Asian Joint-Stock Company (), an entity based in Moscow; its head of security was
Reza Khan himself. In February 1932, the Russo-Persian Banking Office changed its name to Russo-Persian Bank, then in 1935 to Russo-Iranian Bank adopting the new
name of Iran. By 1934, it was one of the largest banks in Iran and had an extensive network of branches throughout the country. In 1938, 40% of Iran's trade was with the
Soviet Union and the RIB was pivotal to that. During the Second World War, in connection with the actual cessation of Iranian foreign trade, the RIB's capital sharply was reduced in 1944. In 1954, all the original Iranian shareholders had been bought out by their Soviet partners; the
Foreign Trade Bank of the USSR held an 84 percent stake in the RIB, while the
State Bank of the USSR held the remaining 16 percent. The RIB also had correspondent accounts with
Deutsche Bank and
Chase Manhattan. From 1967, the bank experienced rapid growth with the intensification of Soviet-Iranian relations. The bank was nationalized in June 1980 in the wake of the
Iranian Revolution. On , it was merged into the recently formed
Bank Tejarat. ==See also==