HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FINANCIAL SECURITY

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive retrospective analysis of the evolutionary development regarding the concept of financial security, treating it as a dynamic economic category that transforms under the influence of technological shifts and changes in the global economic architecture. The relevance of the research is driven by the necessity to rethink modern approaches to capital protection, which are often limited to short-term crisis management, by turning to fundamental historical patterns. The primary objective of the paper is to identify the genesis of financial security mechanisms and to develop a scientifically grounded periodization of its institutionalization, ranging from the pre-industrial era to the age of the digital economy. The study establishes that in the early stages of civilization, the paradigm of financial security was synonymous with physical hoarding (thesaurization) and the protection of precious metals. The authors prove that the transition to Mercantilism and the Industrial Revolution marked a critical turning point where security shifted from a private matter of protecting assets to a state prerogative involving the regulation of market volatility. Through a detailed historical analysis, the paper demonstrates how the emergence of stock exchanges and joint-stock companies necessitated the creation of central banks as lenders of last resort to mitigate systemic risks and banking panics. A significant portion of the research is dedicated to the modern stage of development in the 21st century. The article analyzes the impact of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, which catalyzed the transition to supranational regulation standards, such as Basel III, emphasizing capital adequacy over mere profitability. The authors highlight the disruptive role of financial globalization and the FinTech revolution, particularly the emergence of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi). It is substantiated that these technologies have challenged the traditional state monopoly on money issuance, thereby creating a new class of risks related to anonymity and money laundering, which requires the intervention of international bodies like the FATF. The conclusions emphasize that the future effectiveness of financial security systems depends not on administrative barriers, but on the adaptability of legal frameworks to digital transactions and the integration of artificial intelligence for real-time risk monitoring.