National Bank of Ukraine () or NBU () is the central bank of Ukraine – a government body responsible for unified state policy in the field of country's monetary circulation, including strengthening of the national currency unit, hryvnia. The National Bank of Ukraine employs over 12,000 people, making it one of the leading banks. It regulates and supervises activities, functions and legal status of government and commercial banks based on principles of the Constitution of Ukraine and the law of Ukraine. History Banking in Ukraine traces its history back to 1918 when on 22 December 1917, the Central Council of Ukraine adopted a law "On transformation of the Kyiv office of the Russian State Bank into the Ukrainian State Bank". The law united all offices of the former State bank, Noble Land Bank, and Peasant Land Bank. At the same time there existed a decree of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine about the nationalization of banks since 14 December 1917. On 5 January 1918, the Ukrainian State Bank started to issue its own money. On 10 August 1918, there was signed a statute on the Ukrainian State Bank. On 23 August 1918, there was established the State Land Bank. At the end of World War I, Ukraine became occupied by a new Russian regime – Bolsheviks. Bolshevist Russia adopted a law of War Communism which discontinued use of any financial institutions. However, in 1921 across Ukraine started to be established State Banks of the Russian SFSR which later were transformed into the Central Bank of the USSR. In the 1980's, before the fall of the Soviet Union and during the times of perestroika, the National Bank of Ukraine was a republican branch of the Central Bank of the USSR, while there were registered number of banks with various status. There were over 15 banks of ministerial status, over 20 banks of state/cooperative institutions, Moscow banks in Ukraine, banks with state status. Officially, the National Bank of Ukraine acted as the Central Bank of Ukraine since early 1991. Like institutions of many newly independent nations, it faced dire financial straits during the 1990s, leading to a prolonged period of hyperinflation. On 20 March 1991, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine adopted the resolution "On Banks and Banking Activity", which became Law on May 1. The resolution declared ownership by the Ukrainian SSR of the Ukrainian Republican Bank of the State