The legislation of policy banks has its own characteristics. First, policy banking laws are often established before the establishment of policy banks. Second, each policy bank is usually regulated respectively through legislation. Third, policy-based banking legislation has undergone great changes. When the country’s economic policies have great changes, policy banking laws will always change accordingly.

The real policy banks appeared in the second half of the 19th century, first in the agricultural sector. The mutual aid agricultural credit local treasury established in France in 1894 was the earliest prototype of a policy bank. The 1930s was a period when policy banks were generally established and the 1950s when policy banking legislation in various countries gradually got mature. Taking Japan as a typical example, Japan formulated the “Financial Reconstruction Law” in 1946 and established the Reconstruction Finance Bank accordingly in 1949. In 1951, the Japan Development Bank was established in accordance with the “Development Bank of Japan Inc. Act” and the Reconstruction Finance Bank was abolished. In 1950, the Japan Export Bank was established in accordance with the “Japan Export Finance Bank Act”. In 1958, the SME Credit Insurance Public Treasury was established in accordance with the Law of the SME Credit Insurance Public Treasury. Japan’s policy-based financial system is mainly the “two and nine banks”, established in terms of corresponding legal basis.