Saderat Bank of Iran

Saderat Bank of Iran

Type	Public company
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1952
Headquarters	Tehran, Iran
Area served	Middle East Asia Europe
Key people	Mohammad Reza Pishro (CEO) Mahdi Fatahi (Chairman)
Products	Finance and Insurance Retail banking Commercial banking Investment banking Investment management Private Equity Private banking Credit cards
Revenue	US$ 6.1 billion (2011)
Total assets	US$ 49.8 billion (2011)
Employees	29,379
Website	www.bsi.ir

Bank Saderat Iran (بانک صادرات ایران) 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:^{[citation needed]}

Location of branches

• United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi - 3 branches and Dubai - 6 branches)
• Lebanon (Beirut - 4 branches, Sidon and Baalbek)
• Afghanistan (Kabul - 2 branches)
• Qatar (Doha - 2 branches)
• Bahrain (Manama)
• France (Paris)
• Germany (Hamburg and Frankfurt)
• Greece (Athens)
• Oman (Muscat)
• Turkmenistan (Ashkhabad)
• United Kingdom (London)
• Uzbekistan (Tashkent)

History

On 7 June 1979 , after the Iranian Revolution, 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 blacklisted 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.

See also

• Banking in Iran
• Privatization in Iran
• Sanctions against Iran
• 2011 Iranian embezzlement scandal

External links

• http://www.bsi.ir
• http://www.barjesteh.nl/bolourforoushan.htm