Anatoly Motylev, the president of Globexbank, seems to thrive on crises. What started out humbly in 1992 as a clearing house for other banks and serving corporate customers has grown rapidly to become one of the top 10 banks in Russia. It still counts some 150 Russian banks among its customers with a push of over $100m through its accounts, and has more recently expanded in several directions at once.
The 1990s were the days of financial industrial groups with a huge bank at the centre, sucking up all state business and using its funds to speculate against inflation or gamble on the treasury bill market. However, these large banks and the few profitable companies all needed a second tier of smaller banks to perform the real banking.
