UANI

"President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions on Iran that, for the first time, will bar from the American market foreign companies that work with Iranian businesses charged with aiding Tehran's nuclear program and the suppression of democracy.

Among those that could face legal challenges and fines are Japan's Big Three banks—Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.—as well as European firms such as Commerzbank Bank AG and Deutsche Bank AG, all of whom have businesses inside Iran.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman said most of its existing contracts in Iran have durations of more than 10 years and the bank is legally obligated to fulfill them.

A recent report by Avi Jorisch, a former Treasury Department intelligence official, details how the Big Three Japanese banks, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank continue to maintain bank accounts for Bank Sepah, Iran's oldest financial institution.

Bank Sepah has been blacklisted by both the U.N. and the U.S. in recent years for its alleged role in assisting Tehran's development of weapons of mass destruction.

Ronald Weichert, the spokesman for Deutsche Bank, said the bank is or has been 'engaged in a limited amount of business with counterparties, including government-owned or controlled counterparties, in certain countries which the U.S. State Department has designated as state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran.'

He said the bank's 'existing business with Iranian counterparties consists mostly' of participation 'as lender and/or agent in a few large trade finance facilities arranged some years ago to finance the export contracts of exporters in Europe and Asia.'" (Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Adds Its Own Sanctions on Iran," 7/2/2010)

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"Deutsche Bank announced in July 2007 that it had cut all ties to Iran, saying that it had deemed its business there too time consuming and expensive. While the bank was operating in Iran, RREEF Alternative Investments, a global alternative investment management business of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division, rented properties to the U.S. government." The Company has received $2.6 million from the US government for their investments in Iran during 2000-2009.  They have withdrawn their investments from Iran. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US," 3/6/2010)

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“Evidence of Iran's efforts to acquire sensitive materials also is emerging from investigations by state and federal prosecutors in New York into whether a number of major Western banks illegally handled funds for Iran and deliberately hid Iranian transactions routed through the U.S….Documents detailing Iran's metals acquisition efforts are being reviewed by U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence officials, people involved in the matter said. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he is conducting a broad inquiry into illegal transactions by Iran. Last week, Lloyds TSB of London agreed to pay $350 million to settle U.S. sanctions-busting charges with Mr. Morgenthau's office and the Justice Department. The bank admitted it violated U.S. law but said the practice has ceased. There are nine other banks that we think were doing this, said Mr. Morgenthau in an interview, including Barclays PLC of the U.K. A Barclays spokesman had no comment beyond a prior disclosure confirming the inquiry. Other banks under scrutiny in the probe include Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, people with knowledge of the inquiries said." (The Wall Street Journal, "Fresh Clues of Iranian Nuclear Intrigue," 1/16/09)

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"Another step the Obama administration should take is to sustain American pressure on foreign banks and oil companies to halt their dealings with Iran's energy sector. This effort has led such major firms as Germanys Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, Englands HSBC, Credit Suisse and Royal Dutch Shell to halt or limit their business with Iran. (The Baltimore Sun, "FACING THE IRANIAN THREAT," 12/9/08)

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"U.S. outreach to foreign banks and to oil companies considering investing in Iran's energy sector has reportedly convinced more than 80 banks and several major potential oil-field investors to cease all or some of their business with Iran. Among them: Germany's two largest banks (Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank), London-based HSBC, Credit Suisse, Norwegian energy company StatoilHydro, and Royal Dutch Shell. (The Wall Street Journal, "How To Put The Squeeze On Iran," 11/13/08)

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"European giants HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have pulled out of Iran while BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank have severely curtailed their business with the Islamic republic." (Gulf Daily News, "US imposes sanctions on major Iran banks," 5/1/08)

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Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror, Removed from the internet in July of 2007)