N. Z. MOSAKI Candidate of Historical Sciences Federal Tax Service Keywords: Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey, Iran, banks, insurance companies, stock exchange, audit, middle class In Iraqi (Southern) Kurdistan (IR), until 1992, i.e., until the period when the so-called "security zone" was created on its territory, which marked the beginning of "Free Kurdistan"1, all financial and credit institutions were branches of Iraqi banks, whose activities were mainly concentrated outside the borders of the country. Kurdistan Region. Iraqi Kurdistan has traditionally been characterized by a lower level of infrastructure development, especially financial and credit, than in the rest of the country. This was due to the de facto colonial position of Kurdistan. Baghdad viewed the region primarily as a raw material appendage of the Iraqi economy. Therefore, financial and credit institutions have not received almost any development here, and the presence of a small number of them in the region was only due to the maintenance of some local projects. The branches of banks and the National Insurance Company of Iraq in the largest cities of Iraq - Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk-that were operating during the control of the territory of Iraq by the Iraqi authorities, i.e. actually before 1991, were closed on November 28, 1991 during the withdrawal of all state institutions from Kurdistan by the decision of Saddam Hussein. Thus, by the end of 1991, Iraqi Kurdistan was left without any financial and credit structures at all. THE EMERGENCE OF THE BANKING SYSTEM (1992-2003) A few years after the creation of the "Free Kurdistan", in the second half of the 1990s, the beginnings of a banking system began to emerge here. This process began after 1996, when the fratricidal war between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)continued in 1994-1996.2 Two Kurdistan Regional Governments (Per IR) were established with centers in the cities of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, respec ... Read more