The full text of Sir Claude's letter follows:
Mr. Talabani and Members of Parliament of Iraq; I am the Independent Advisor to the Board of the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI).
You are no doubt aware of the great contribution TBI has made to the people of Iraq. It is the one Iraq institution that has demonstrated to the world at large that Iraq is a country of the future. TBI is respected by international banks as is evidenced by the list of TBI’s correspondent banks: JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank to name but a few.
It has been voted ‘The Best Trade Bank in the Middle East’ for several years. Its results for 2010 are outstanding. The accounts were audited by PWC, one of the most respected international audit firms, and the accounts were unqualified. This is due to the outstanding leadership of Mr. Hussein Al Uzri. Mr. Al Uzri is the most respected banker in Iraq.
TBI’s great strength has been its outstanding staff and those that Mr. Al Uzri had persuaded to join the bank with international experience.
TBI has grown from a capital of 95 million to a bank with a capital of 1 billion from retained earnings.
Mr. Al Uzri deserves the highest Iraq honour for his hard work, dedication and commitment and success. The Iraqi people know this, you know this.
Mr. Al Uzri's high profile and the banks success resulted in Mr. Al Uzri twice narrowly escaping death due to bomb attacks on his life and that of the bank when I was in Baghdad.
Mr. Al Uzri continued heroically in his post and TBI went from strength to strength. You are fully aware that because of TBI Erbil has the benefit of 24 hours of electricity. There is no excuse that the whole of Iraq does not have this basic requirement. This, to a great degree, is through gross incompetence by those responsible in Government.
TBI’s success has been that it has been run independently and professionally by those with the appropriate international experience combined with the hardworking staff in Baghdad. Unique in Iraq.
The Iraq economy cannot develop without a sound financial system and without it political instability will increase. You are aware that The Iraqi people’s patience is running out and rightly so. The corruption in successive Iraq governments has been an insult to The Iraqi people. There was a short period when this was not the case, you know that it can and should be stopped and was for a short period. It requires people of independence, with integrity, and competence. There are many Iraqis who possess these qualities but few have been asked to serve or been persuaded to do so at this time.
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