It was a private joint-stock mortgage bank serving the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire.

Its mission was to provide loans collateralized by real estate to manor owners (agriculture) and city residents (industry).

As it could not accept deposits, the bank issued mortgage bonds to raise funds for the loans.

[2] A new law was passed in May 1872 which allowed the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire to approve new banks with less than 5 million rubles in capital.

[4] Vilnius Land Bank was approved on 9 August 1872 and began operations in December.

[6] It was established by the largest landowners in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Peter Wittgenstein, son of Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Nikolay Zubov [lt] of Zubov family, Adam Alfred Plater), Russian nobles (Anatoly Baryatinsky [ru], Nikolai Levashov), Russian politicians (Nicolas de Benardaky, Boris Obukhov [ru], Colonel Vladimir Giuliani (Владимир Юрьевич Джулиани), General Pyotr Pavlovich Durnovo), bankers from Saint Petersburg (Joseph Günzburg, Leon Rosenthal, I. Gonzaga-Pavlichinsky (И. Л. Гонзаго-Павличинский)), engineer Konstantin Mikhailovsky, and others.

It held monopolistic privileges in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Grodno Governorates until 1886 when St. Petersburg – Tula Land Bank was allowed to operate in these territories as well.

[5] In addition to salary and dividends, board members received an annual bonus which averaged 11,881 rubles in 1892–1902.

[5] Among the employees were several prominent Lithuanian politicians and activists, including Antanas Smetona, Mykolas Biržiška, and Jurgis Šaulys.

[10] In 1928, the vestibule was reconstructed to include a revolving door and a white marble dual staircase.

[5] Long-term loans were paid not in cash, but in mortgage bonds which provided for a fixed annual interest to their holders.

Twice a year,[4] the borrowers had to pay the interest to mortgage bondholders plus a 1% administrative fee to the bank.

[4] The average manor size dropped showing that the loans were taken out by smaller nobles and, in some cases, well-to-do peasants.

[5] The bank was very conservative in its lending practices, often using very low valuations of mortgaged properties for which it faced criticism and pressure both from the shareholders and the clients.

The bank offered many forms of relief to the struggling nobles, protecting local Polish landed nobility and attracting ire of Russian regulators.

From 1901 to 1907, the bank auctioned 659 urban properties but managed to sell only 452 and suffered 2 million rubles in losses.

[4] Despite the losses and regulations, the bank continued to lend to city residents and the outstanding loans amounted to 35.9 million and represented 2,891 properties in 1915.

[5] When prices rebounded and stabilized at 92–96 rubles, Russian government ordered to lower the interest rate to 5% in 1886.

After the revolution, the market recovered and in early 1913 Vilnius Land Bank had 146.5 million rubles worth of mortgage bonds outstanding.

This capital was used to provide short-term loans and any excess was required to be invested in Russian government bonds.

[5] The bank was also required to have a reserve capital which could be used to cover losses, guarantee 8% annual dividend, or timely payment of interest on mortgage bonds in case of a borrower's default.

Investment income from Russian government bonds and 5% of annual profit were transferred to this reserve capital.

[5] From 1883, newly issued shares were required to be sold at a premium over the nominal face value to build up the reserve.

Due to requirements of keeping capital invested (mostly stocks of railway companies and Russian government bonds), the bank suffered significant losses (10.4 million rubles) in 1900–1905.

[6] In the post-war years, the bank raised its capital only twice, in 1925 and 1928, but continued to keep its annual dividend high at 8% to 13%.