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protect current workers’ positions amid the recession-hit economy. However, it is likely that many will lose their jobs as branch numbers are reduced over time.
The banks have differing levels of indebtedness, including from purchases of non-banking assets, the seizure of debtors’ assets and failures to have minimum capital requirements under the CBI rules.
The merging of the banks is believed to be seen by officials as part of Iran’s realisation of the much-delayed Palermo convention on anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT). When completed the merger will mean significant oversight from regulators in the country, and it will be welcomed by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that has subjected Iran to special measures for slowness in applying AML/CFT requirements to loans.
8.1.6 ​Bank news
Iranian minister hints Afghan bank looking to open branch in Chabahar free port
Melli Bank Iran says it’s divested IRR17.4tn of non-financial assets
An Afghan bank is set to open a branch in Iran’s Chabahar port Free Trade Zone (FTZ) on the Indian Ocean, IRNA has reported, quoting the Iranian energy minister as hinting at the development while not naming the lender in question.
Chabahar free port, set on the Gulf of Oman, is Iran’s only oceanic port and, importantly, the development of it is not subject to US sanctions with Washington recognising the value of growing trade at the hub to the economic development of conflict-torn and landlocked Afghanistan. Deep-sea access to the Indian Ocean for the nations of Central Asia and growing flows of shipped goods from India, which is investing in developing the port with Iran, are two other aspects of Chabahar increasingly coming into focus. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are two Central Asian countries, landlocked like Afghanistan, that have shown clear interest in using the port to access international trade routes.
“Afghanistan is exempt from [US] sanctions, thus Afghan banks are permitted to operate in Chabahar,” energy minister Reza Ardakanian was quoted as saying.
He reportedly added that opening bank branches in Chabahar would pave the way for further trade exchanges between Iran and Afghanistan.
Three Afghan banks are thought to have applied to operate in the FTZ. The smart money is on Ghazanfar Bank of Afghanistan becoming the first to open a branch in the port city.
Melli Bank Iran (MBI) has announced that it divested non-financial assets valued at IRR17.4tn ($102mn at the free market rate) during the last Persian year (ended March 9), Tehran’s Financial Tribune has reported. The Iranian banking system was in 2017 instructed by the Rouhani administration to offload all non-core assets as part of a wider sell-off of government-owned assets by semi-state-owned enterprises and banks. Among MBI’s major sell-offs during the previous Persian year was an 81% stake in large mineral company Madan Shekafan Tehran Co. It was purchased by a private buyer during a tender process.
However, several state-owned enterprises that have landed on the bank’s books over the years remain unsold and in liquidation and insolvent.
Last November, MBI failed to find a buyer for the National Development Investment Company, which it listed as having a value of €1.4bn. The
37​ IRAN Country Report July 2020 www.intellinews.com