Page 37 - IRANRptFeb22

Tehran rejects money laundering conviction of Iranian central bank in Bahrain
Bank of Iran (EBDI). From 2006 to 2014, he led the Securities and Exchange Organisation, Iran’s capital markets regulator. In that role Salehabadi was largely successful in driving the development of the Tehran Stock Exchange, despite then-President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s skepticism of capital markets development.
“Salehabadi holds a PhD in Financial Management from the University of Tehran. He is a faculty member at Imam Sadeq University, where he completed his master’s degree. His affiliation with Imam Sadeq University, which is shared by economy minister Ehsan Khandoozi and social welfare minister Hojjatollah Abdolmaleki, firmly places Salehabadi in the network of ‘revolutionary experts’ from which Raisi has drawn his cabinet members focused on economic policy.
“Perhaps even more so than Khandoozi or Abdolmaleki, Salehabadi’s education and subsequent experience have given him a grounding in both conservative political thought and liberal economic planning.”
"The role of the central bank in preserving the value of the national currency and controlling inflation is very fundamental," Raisi said after Salehabadi's appointment, according to official news agency IRNA.
Iran’s economy is still under punishing US sanctions brought in by ex-American president Donald Trump, with its banks almost entirely cut off from the global financial system. Annual inflation stands at more than 50% and the national currency, the rial has lost over three-quarters of its value against the US dollar during the Trump sanctions period, which started in mid-2018.
A conviction of money laundering secured in a Bahraini court against the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has been rejected by Iran’s foreign ministry, Rudaw reported on August 2.
The court on July 29 hit the CBI and several other Iranian banks with fines for money laundering of Bahraini dinar (BHD) 1mn ($2.7mn) each. The ruling was recorded as the single largest economic ruling ever made by a Bahraini court. Bahrain has historical links to Iran with a significant proportion of the country’s population Shi’ite Muslim.
As part of the ruling, Bahrain’s Future Bank and six of its officials were also convicted, with Future Bank fined and the officials handed sentences of five to 10 years in jail. The court also confiscated approximately $1.3bn in laundered funds from the multiple parties implicated in the ruling.
The Bahraini public prosecutor said the CBI instructed Future Bank to complete transactions via an “unapproved transfer system,” Bahraini state media reported.
The unapproved money transfer system was likely the traditional Hawala money transfer system, which uses intermediaries with money in their accounts to transfer sums on other people’s behalf.
8.1.1 Liquidity / assets
Iran’s liquidity expands to IRR18.82 quadrillion in Persian year
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has reported on July 8 rial liquidity grew 23.1% to reach IRR18.82 quadrillion (around $447bn) in the previous Persian calendar year (to March 20).
Liquidity continues to grow due to the devaluation of the rial against a basket
37 IRAN Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com