The College of Commerce was established in Bratislava in 1940. Since then, it had been renamed on several occasions (first to Slovak College of Commerce in 1944, second to College of Economic Sciences in 1949, then to College of Economics in 1953 and finally to University of Economics in 1992) – partly due to its changing profile and focus and partly due to the socio-economic changes in the country. Our faculty, the Faculty of National Economy, bears its name since 1980 – its roots, however, date back to 1940, when it was established as Institute of National Economy.
Our department’s origins lie in 1950s. Then, the department was not yet an independent department, but its future members had already started to teach the courses that would later become the key courses of our specialisation under the study programmes of the Department of Finance. The first predecessor of our department, the Department of Money Circulation and Currency was established in the academic year of 1969/1970 under the leadership of Professor Otto Sobek. Due to changing political and social climate in the former Czechoslovakia, the department was abolished the following year. The department’s modern history started in 1990 – alongside the initial stage of the process of transition towards democracy and market economy in Czechoslovakia, when the Department of Currency, Credit and Banking was established. In 1991 it was renamed to Department of Money and in 2001 the department’s name was changed to its current form, the Department of Banking and International Finance. Therefore, in academic year 2020/2021, our department will celebrate both its 30th anniversary, as well as 50 years since it was first established.
List of Heads of the Department of Banking and International Finance:
1990 – 1994 prof. Ing. Otto Sobek, CSc.
1994 – 1997 prof. Ing. Irena Hlavatá, CSc.
1998 – 2000 prof. Ing. Anežka Jankovská, CSc.
2001 assoc. prof. Ing. Božena Chovancová, PhD., caretaker Head of the Department
2001 – 2003 assoc. prof. Ing. Mária Klimiková, PhD.
2003 – 2007 prof. Ing. Anežka Jankovská, CSc.
2007 – 2020 prof. Ing. Eva Horvátová, CSc.
2020 – assoc. prof. Ing. Jana Kotlebová, PhD.
Department of Banking and International Finance is proud of our graduates, many of whom have proceeded to become very successful figures in both domestic and international financial institutions, in science and in economic policy.
