Bank Saderat Iran
Encyclopedia
Bank Saderat Iran is an Iranian Bank. Its name means "the Export Bank of Iran". Bank Saderat Iran (BSI) was founded by the prominent Mofarrah and Bolurfrushan families, commenced operation on 13 November 1952 with a board of three directors and 20 employees. It quickly became the largest privately owned bank in the region with branches in Hamburg
, Paris
, London
and New York
. As of 2006, it operates 3,248 branches and has over 30,000 employees. Saderat Bank of Iran is one of the largest banks in the Middle East
. Saderat Bank of Iran has 28 international branches and services in 12 countries:
, all Iranian private banks were nationalized, quite to the dismay of the founding families, and became state-owned. In 1980, branches and sub-branches of BSI in the Iranian provinces were turned into independent banks, named Bank Saderat Ostan (province). Today, BSI has 29 owned provincial bank subsidiaries and over 200 affiliated companies, supervised by Ghadir Investment Company
. Iranian banks are administered on the basis of a law passed by the Islamic Revolution Council on 25 September 1979, and the provisions of its Articles of Association.
On September 9, 2006, the bank was blacklist
ed by the United States
because it allegedly transfers money to terrorist organizations.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bank Saderat is used by the Government of Iran to transfer money to what the US considers to be terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Under the current Iranian Transactions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560), U.S. banks may process certain funds transfers involving an Iranian bank, such as transfers for authorized or exempt transactions and "U-turn
" transactions. U-turn transactions allow U.S. banks to process payments involving Iran that begin and end with a non-Iranian foreign bank. Bank Saderat will not be able to participate in any transfers involving U.S. banks, effective from the date that the amendment to the regulations is filed with the U.S. Federal Register. By prohibiting U-turn and all other transactions with Bank Saderat, the bank is denied all direct and indirect access to the U.S. financial system.
Bank Saderat Iran currently conducts banking in the UAE, handling Iranian trade in and out of Dubai
. Bank Saderat's profits are the 3rd highest among foreign Banks within UAE. The bank mainly deals in project financing, letters of credit (LCs) and bank guarantees (demand guarantees), whereas other activities remains less important.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. As of 2006, it operates 3,248 branches and has over 30,000 employees. Saderat Bank of Iran is one of the largest banks in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Saderat Bank of Iran has 28 international branches and services in 12 countries:
Location of branches
- FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) - LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
(BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
- 4 branches, SidonSidonSidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
and BaalbekBaalbekBaalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
) - UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
(TashkentTashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
) - United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
(Abu DhabiAbu DhabiAbu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
- 3 branches and DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
- 6 branches) - OmanOmanOman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
(MuscatMuscat, OmanMuscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
) - BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
(ManamaManamaManama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 155,000 people.Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very diverse population...
) - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
) - AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
(KabulKabulKabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
- 2 branches) - TurkmenistanTurkmenistanTurkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
(Ashkhabad) - United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) - QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
(DohaDohaDoha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
- 2 branches) - GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
)
History
On 7 June 1979 , after the Iranian RevolutionIranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, all Iranian private banks were nationalized, quite to the dismay of the founding families, and became state-owned. In 1980, branches and sub-branches of BSI in the Iranian provinces were turned into independent banks, named Bank Saderat Ostan (province). Today, BSI has 29 owned provincial bank subsidiaries and over 200 affiliated companies, supervised by Ghadir Investment Company
Ghadir Investment Company
Ghadir Investment Company was established in 1991 in Iran. Its activities range from managing or restructuring Iranian companies on behalf of its parent company, Saderat Bank of Iran. GHADIR is one of the largest listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange with a market capitalization in excess...
. Iranian banks are administered on the basis of a law passed by the Islamic Revolution Council on 25 September 1979, and the provisions of its Articles of Association.
On September 9, 2006, the bank was blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
because it allegedly transfers money to terrorist organizations.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bank Saderat is used by the Government of Iran to transfer money to what the US considers to be terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Under the current Iranian Transactions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560), U.S. banks may process certain funds transfers involving an Iranian bank, such as transfers for authorized or exempt transactions and "U-turn
U-turn (banking)
A U-turn transaction, generally speaking, is a banned financial transaction done by a bank in country A for the benefit of a bank in country B through offshore banks . This loophole is used by Iranian banks to avoid U.S. sanctions for their US dollar based transactions...
" transactions. U-turn transactions allow U.S. banks to process payments involving Iran that begin and end with a non-Iranian foreign bank. Bank Saderat will not be able to participate in any transfers involving U.S. banks, effective from the date that the amendment to the regulations is filed with the U.S. Federal Register. By prohibiting U-turn and all other transactions with Bank Saderat, the bank is denied all direct and indirect access to the U.S. financial system.
Bank Saderat Iran currently conducts banking in the UAE, handling Iranian trade in and out of Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. Bank Saderat's profits are the 3rd highest among foreign Banks within UAE. The bank mainly deals in project financing, letters of credit (LCs) and bank guarantees (demand guarantees), whereas other activities remains less important.
See also
- Banking in Iran
- Privatization in IranPrivatization in IranAccording to the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan , the Privatization Organization of Iran affiliated to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is in charge of setting prices and ceding shares to the general public and on the Tehran Stock Exchange...
- Sanctions against IranSanctions against IranThis article outlines economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran, which have been imposed by the U.S. government, or under U.S. pressure by the international community through the United Nations Security Council...
- 3,000 billion embezzlement in Iran
External links
- http://www.bsi.ir
- http://www.barjesteh.nl/bolourforoushan.htm