MedioBanca

Banking
BIT: MB
Italy
MedioBanca

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Mediobanca sent staff to visit Iran but never did finance business there, according to a person familiar with the matter. ( Max Colchester and Laurence Fletcher, “Iran Nuclear Deal Upheaval Shakes Up European Banks’ Outreach,” The Wall Street Journal,
May 9, 2018.) 

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"CBI deputy governor has reported on attraction of financial resources worth 7.2 billion dollars through three international banks. Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) for Foreign Exchange Affairs Gholamali Kamyab, while pointing to foreign exchange projects pursued by CBI in the field of Resistance Economy, said attraction of 10 billion dollars of external resources remained as one objective defined by the central bank in the area of Resistance Economy. 'Measures taken by CBI in this regard include extensive negotiations with some foreign banks like Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank), the Italian Mediobank as well as Danske Bank of Denmark,' noted the official." (Mehr News, "Iran Attracts $7.2bn Finance from 3 Foreign Banks," 1/8/2017).

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Mediobanca is listed on the Reserve Bank of India’s (“RBI”) names of international banks which have entered into a correspondent banking relationship with Iranian banks

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Despite hopes of a new dawn for Iran's economy after nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, major Western banks are reluctant to do business with the Islamic republic for fear of US retribution. President Hassan Rouhani has said that to reach the target of eight-percent growth needed to modernise the industrial sector and relaunch the hobbled economy, Iran needs up to $50 billion in foreign investment every year. But without the big foreign banks, that looks impossible. "For the moment, the little European banks have agreed to work with us," said Parviz Aghili, head of the private Middle East Bank in Tehran. They include banks from Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, he said without naming them. "But not a single medium-sized or big bank has so far agreed to do it," he added... The limited number of institutions that do deal with the Islamic republic include Raiffeisen Bank and Erste Bank from Austria, Mediobanca and Banco Popolare of Italy, Germany's EIH, KfW and AKA banks, Belgium's KBC, ING of the Netherlands and Turkey's Halk, according to a banking expert in Tehran. "These banks have established working relations with the Iranian banks to open letters of credit for fairly small sums of 10, 20 or 50 million dollars." But they lack the resources to finance big projects like the deal struck between Iran and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus for 118 airplanes, or oil and gas development projects, the expert said. (AFP, "Iran banking hobbled by Western reluctance to engage," 9/13/2016).

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“Italian investment bank Mediobanca wants to play a role in the privatization of Iranian state-owned companies and in foreign investments in the country’s oil, energy, automotive and financial industries, according to an internal memo confirmed by the bank.” (Bloomberg, “Daimler, Mediobanca Line Up to Profit From End of Iran Sanctions,” 1/18/2016).
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Mediobanca maintains a representative office in Tehran.  (Italian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce Profile)

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"Investment bank Mediobanca said in a statement that it, along with Italy's development ministry and export credit agency SACE, had signed a memorandum of understanding during the visit with Iran's economy ministry and its central bank. The aim of the agreement was 'to facilitate future economic and commercial relations between the two countries,' the statement said." (Reuters, "Italian Minister Visits Iran Seeking Better Ties," 8/4/15)

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"In Iran Mediobanca has executed in 1998 a Master Credit Agreement (MCA) with the major eight Iranian banks totalling USD 2 billion to finance Italian capital goods exports to Iran.  Up to 2004 over 30 commerical contracts were financed through such MCA for over $1,200 million." (Italian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce Profile)

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In 2012, Mediobanca's gross exposure included more than £36 million towards Iranian banks. (2012 Annual Report)