Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 21
By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., a Chinese multinational banking company, plans to establish its branches in Iran, an official with Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said.
The bank, which is considered as the largest bank in the world in terms of total assets and market capitalization, has requested establishing branches in Iran's free trade zone of Kish Island, and in mainland Iran, IRIB news agency quoted Hossein Yaqoubi-Miab, the head of the CBI international affairs department, as saying Jan. 21.
Saying that the international banks have expressed interest in business in Iran following the removal of sanctions, he added that several banks from Lebanon, as well as from European countries, such as Austria and Italia, have appealed to Tehran for launching their branches in the Islamic Republic.
Yaqoubi-Miab further added that the CBI encourages the idea of launching the branches of foreign banks in Iran.
Iran's Central Bank earlier announced that the SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) sanction on the country's 12 banks was lifted.
The Central Bank, as well as Tejarat Bank, Refah Bank, Export Development Bank of Iran, Bank Sepah, Post Bank Iran, Bank of Industry and Mine, Iran-Europe Commercial Bank, Tose`e Ta`avon Bank (Cooperative Development Bank), Sina Bank, Bank Mellat and Bank Melli are now eligible to use SWIFT, said the announcement.
Since March 2012, as part of measures taken in a bid to intensify the sanctions on Tehran due to its nuclear program, Iran's banking system has been deprived of access to the SWIFT, which has had a catastrophic impact on Iran's economy.
Meanwhile, the CBI Governor Valiollah Seif, said on Jan. 20 that despite the removal of international sanctions, some Iranian banks are still in the sanctions list.
In a joint statement on Jan. 16, the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced the implementation of Iran's nuclear deal with the P5+1, and the removal of economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The statement said the EU confirms that the legal framework, providing for lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, is effective.