Banking

"Landesbanken no longer handle payment transactions for Iran businesses." (5/25/2018).

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LBB-INVEST is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DekaBank. (LBB-Invest Website)

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"Iranian authorities, keen to roll out the red carpet to foreign investors, are taking steps to help local firms sell bonds abroad and Western fund managers are eager to buy... Investors are eager but more than a year after international sanctions against Iran were removed in exchange for curbs on its disputed nuclear program, compliance risks may remain. 'We would be very interested,' said Lutz Roehmeyer, director at Landesbank Berlin Invest. 'We have no exposure, and that would be a great first step, but eventually we would actually like to be invested in local currency.'" (Reuters, "Iran Looks to Open Foreign Funding Sources for Local Firms," 1/12/2017).

"ICBC supramax stuck in Iran as sanctions loom - Officials of giant Chinese bank’s shipping department work to secure the release of detained vessel and avoid possible exposure to US measures." (Tradewinds, "ICBC supramax stuck in Iran as sanctions loom," 10/30/2018).

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Last month, Iranian media had reported about similar restrictions by Chinese major banks including Agriculture Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). However, based on a report by Mehr News Agency, the measures by Chinese banks had nothing to do with the U.S. sanctions. (Radio Farda, "Chinese and Asian Banks Curtailed Ties to Iran - Iranian Official," 11/16/2017).

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Subsidiary of Central Hujin Investment.

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Officials from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by total assets and market capitalization, has held talks with the Central Bank of Iran in recent weeks to discuss the procedure of starting operations in Iran, a CBI official said on Friday. “ICBC is earnestly pursuing plans to enter Iran…We are waiting for the Chinese bank to submit the documents…even the location for the bank's presence has been decided ,” Hussein Yaqoubi, CBI deputy for international affairs was quoted as saying by  IBENA, a news website close to the bank. “The Chinese bank’s presence in Iran will be a major step in reviving [Iran's] banking creditably at the international level,” he said. (Financial Tribune,  "Banking Giant ICBC Seeking Iran Access," 12/3/2016

"Trade Minister Todd McClay leads a senior-level business delegation on New Zealand’s first trade mission to Tehran in twelve years, today. Iran and New Zealand have a long-standing trade relationship, dating back to 1975 when New Zealand established an Embassy in Tehran, its first in the Middle East. “There is enormous opportunity for Iran and New Zealand to work together to boost two-way trade,” says Mr McClay... The eighteen New Zealand companies joining Mr McClay on this visit to Iran are: NIG Nutritionals, Tait Communications, Enatel Limited, Sealord, Silver Fern Farms, Westland Milk Products, Fonterra, FrameCAD, Flight Coffee, Switchfloat, University of Canterbury, University of Auckland, ANZCO, Auckland University of Technology, Pacific Helmets, Pelco NZ, NZ Bankers Association, and Pultron Composites." (New Zealand Government, "Business delegation to look at opportunities in Iran," 12/2/2016).

"A Hong Kong business delegation visited the Iranian capital Tehran this week to explore new business opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative. It is the city’s first official delegation since the United Nations lifted sanctions against Iran in January this year. Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Tsang led more than 30 business leaders from finance, information and communications technology, infrastructure and real estate services and logistics sectors to Iran from 7 to 10 November. The delegation was jointly organised by the by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). Among them were Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited Yue Yi, Executive Director of China State Construction International Holdings Limited Danny Hung, Chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong Jack So and the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Professor Tony Chan." (Hong Kong Trade Development Council, "First Government-led Hong Kong Delegation Visits Iran," 11/11/2016).

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In a speech at the Hong Kong-Iran Business Cooperation Forum, Financial Secretary Mr. John C Tsang discussed business with iran and further strengthening the co-operatiion between Hong Kong and Iran. (7th Space Interactive, "Speech by FS at Hong Kong-Iran Business Co-operation Forum," 11/9/2016).

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"U.S. officials also considered blacklisting two of China’s largest lenders—China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China—alongside Bank of Dandong in 2017, but shelved the plan for fear of severely damaging the global financial system, sources told Bloomberg last year." (ACAMS, "Banks Reassess Exposure to China Amid Rising Tensions: Sources," 4/1/2019). 

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In the summer of 2017 reports of banking restrictions for Iranian nationals surfaced when some Iranian expatriates said their accounts with AG Bank had been closed. However, on January 31, 2018, Chairman of the Iran-China chamber of commerce said the issue was resolved.

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"Since May, four major state-owned Chinese banks - the Bank of China (BOC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) - have been declining issuance of letters of credits (LCs) on transactions involving cargoes possibly originating in Iran, they said." (ICIS, "China's Iran petchem imports at risk," 7/7/2017).

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"China’s third-largest lender tried to obscure the trail of dollar transactions by Russian, Chinese and Middle Eastern clients and attempted to silence a compliance officer who raised alarms about it, according to New York’s banking regulator. State-controlled Agricultural Bank of China was ordered to pay a $215 million penalty and install an independent monitor for 18 months to oversee the establishment of compliance controls, New York State’s Department of Financial Services said in a consent order Friday... Some invoices appeared to be counterfeited or falsified, the compliance staff said, including dollar transactions apparently involving an Iranian party under U.S. sanctions. Some of these transactions were sent through the global interbank-messaging system, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, using coded messages that masked client identities to avoid DFS screening, according to the consent order." (Bloomberg News, "China's AGBank Fined $215 Million for Hiding Transactions," 11/4.2016).

On March 13, 2017, the Financial Times reported, “A task force comprising Iranian and Finnish bank executives and experts, which was formed to remove bilateral banking hurdles, has already made headway…” (Financial Tribune, “Iran, Finland Removing Banking Hurdles,” 3/13/2017.)

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Bank of Finland took part in a trade delegation to Tehran in October 2015.  (Islamic Republic News Agency, “Iran, Finland keen to expand bilateral ties,” 10/27/2015).

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According to a Finnish report, the Bank of Finland took part in a delegation of Finnish officials and businesses that took place October 25-26, 2016.  (EK (Helsinki), “Iran kansainvälisten yritysten huomion keskipisteessä,” 10/20/2016). 

Arjan Capital was advertised as a participant in 2018 for KishINVEX, “one of the most economically influential events mainly concentrates on presenting Iran’s investment and business opportunities and providing attendees with professional networks to expand their business in the untapped market of Iran.” (KishINVEX Website, “Home;” “About” “KishINVEX 2018 All Participants”).

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Arjan Capital has agreed to participate in the Iran Business Symposium (the “Symposium”) in Amsterdam on February 21-23, 2017.  (Symposium Website, “Home”). 

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Senior Managing Partner of Arjan Capital is listed as a speaker at the 2016 Iran Renewable Energy Commercial Conference that took place December 5-8, 2016, in Tehran, Iran (Iran Rec Congress, "Speakers").

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"With major U.K. and U.S. banks still struggling to find reassurances from regulators to resume business with Iran nearly 10 months since “implementation day,” a handful of European banks are forging ahead and sealing transactions with the oil-rich nation. “I’ve recently found a new sport, which is hunting for small banks who want to do business with Iran,” said Andreas Schweitzer, senior managing partner at Arjan Capital Ltd., a Malta-registered investment and advisory firm that focuses on doing business with Iran. “And we won’t waste our resources looking for large banks; we will do business with medium sized banks–in Italy, Liechtenstein,” he said last week at the Iranian Trade Conference in London...” (The Wall Street Journal,  "Smaller European Banks Taking Lead on Iran Deals," 11/7/2016).

"Reyl Bank has announced that it is opening bank accounts for Iranian individuals and companies through its branches in Geneva and Dubai, allowing account holders to transfer money, said Sharif Nezam Mafi, head of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. “Reyl is not a large bank, but the move is a starting point for further cooperation between Iran and Switzerland,” he was quoted as saying by Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mining’s website." (Financial Tribune,  "Switzerland's Reyl Bank Open for Iranians," 10/5/2016).

"German lender DZ Bank will suspend financial transactions with Iran in July, it said, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal created uncertainty over business dealings with the country. “We will completely suspend our foreign payment transactions related to Iran starting July 1st,” a spokesman for the Frankfurt-based bank said on Friday." (5/18/2018)

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"European banks are tentatively re-engaging with Iran as the Middle East’s second-largest economy slowly emerges from a sanctions regime that has kept it in the financial wilderness for years. Belgium’s KBC, Germany’s DZ Bank both confirmed when contacted by the Financial Times that they have started handling transactions on behalf of European clients doing business in Iran. Austria’s Erste Bank is preparing to do so. However, bigger European banks remain on the sidelines alongside their US rivals, scarred by a string of multibillion-dollar fines for earlier sanctions breaches in Iran. This is causing growing frustration among officials in Iran and Europe about the slow pace with which Tehran is being reconnected to the global financial system... the continuation of many US sanctions relating to other issues, such as facilitating terrorism, has made many international banks wary of working with Iranian institutions and individuals." (Financial Times, “Europe’s banks begin tentative return to Iran,” 4/3/2016)

"Turkish investment bank Unlu & Co aims to complete the acquisition of an Iranian brokerage in the next six months and become the first Turkish financial services firm to operate in Iran since the easing of sanctions, its chairman said on Friday... "We aim to conclude the acquisition in the next three to six months," Mahmut Unlu, chairman and chief executive of Istanbul-based Unlu & Co, told a news conference. The bank, which specialises in mergers and acquisitions and portfolio management, has also established an open-ended fund to invest in Iranian companies and has been hired by a Turkish consumer goods firm to find acquisition targets in Iran, Unlu said. "The Turkish company we are advising is in talks to buy a majority stake in an Iranian firm. It will be a $60-70 million deal," he said, without giving further details." (Reuters, "Turkish investment bank Unlu says aims to close Iranian deal soon," 9/30/2016).