Studying conceptual issues of development of the financial system under the changing geopolitical and geo-economic conditions

The article presents an attempt of a comprehensive retrospective research, systematization and rethinking of the main conceptual provisions of the world theory of finance. In today’s changing geopolitical and geo-economic conditions, it is very important to study the development of the financial system in the conditions of ensuring sustainable development of territories. Numerous studies of scientists around the world show the complexity and diversity of the most important economic categories such as “finance” and “financial system”. With the use of primary sources on the theory of finance, we substantiate the essence of the fundamental definitions of financial science such as public, corporate, centralized and decentralized finance; we provide their interpretation, highlight their features and make a distinction between them. We carry out a consistent periodization of the development of world financial science since ancient times. Through the identification of assumptions, features and results, we substantiate the principal allocation of four stages of development of world financial science. On their basis we define key postulates of modern world financial science. We reveal the features of formation of five stages of origin and formation of financial science in Russia. We substantiate the classification of financial relations depending on their role in social reproduction. We analyse the concepts for and approaches to the development of the essence, identification of the features and justification of functions of finance, which allows us to visualize the scheme of the modern structure of the financial system of the Russian state. We systematize the functional purpose, tools and regulatory framework for the regulation of each link of the financial system of the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty of the article consists in the fact that it systematizes the main conceptual provisions of financial science necessary for the development of effective public financial policy in terms of risk, uncertainty and volatility of financial markets and economic conditions. The materials of the article can be useful in the educational sphere in the study of financial disciplines and economic theory; besides, the materials can be used by researchers as a theoretical basis for further research and management at various levels in the substantiation of management decisions.