Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has announced that its board has decided to "lift custody [guardianship]" over Warka Bank on August 25, 2013, following a final decision made by the Financial Services Court on 26th May, 2013. Warka Bank announced on its website that: "This decision comes in accordance with the […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. According to an Iraqi financial expert, the value of Iraq’s federal reserves currently amounts to about $80 billion, following the recent increase in the country’s oil exports. Nevertheless, no information was […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Political and economic Iraqi circles confirm the presence of extensive money-laundering operations in Iraq. Weak monitoring systems and political conflicts of interest, however, prevent the exposure of these operations. These same […]
By John Lee. UK-based bank Standard Chartered is counting on the assistance of the British government to help it to open branches in Iraq by the end of the year, according to a report from The National. The newspaper says the company plans to open three branches in the next eighteen months, to tap into […]
On Monday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced the increase of its US Dollar sales during Monday's auction after reaching $16278000 last Sunday. "The total US Dollars sold by the bank amounted to $288639000 at price of 1166 IQD per US dollar during the auction, which included the participation of twenty-four banks," CBI reported in a […]
By John Lee. Banking giant HSBC is reportedly struggling to exit its Iraqi operations, having had two proposals to sell its stake in Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank (DES) rejected by the country's regulator. We reported in June that HSBC was exploring options to dispose of its 70.1 percent holding in the Iraqi bank following […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Two Iraqi parliamentary committees monitoring fiscal policy in Iraq have held two contradictory positions on the Iraqi currency “reset” project, which would delete three zeros from the currency. There has been […]
By John Lee. The Governor of Iraq's Central Bank, Abdulbasit Turki, has said that Iraq’s financial capabilities are stronger than any challenges the country might be facing. Speaking at a celebration to mark the 10th anniversary or Iraq’s Commercial Bank, he said "The near future will be a surprise … our potentials are greater than […]
By Abdel Hamid Zebari for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. There is an old Arabic saying that "gold is both for decoration and storing." Currently, Iraqis, particularly residents of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, are taking these words to heart. […]
By Waheed Ghanim. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Currency Class War: Damaged Dinar Notes result in Bribery, Injustice Exchange shops, bank cashiers and savvy housewives are doing big business as they deal with Iraq’s […]
By John Lee. JPMorgan Chase is the latest international bank after Citigroup and Standard Chartered to expand business in Iraq, reports Bloomberg. The company has just signed a one-year agreement to help the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) finance imports of goods and services, John Gibbons, managing director and EMEA regional executive, told the news […]
The NASDAQ OMX Group has entered an agreement with the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) to upgrade its current trading platform. Under the terms of the agreement, ISX will replace its existing NASDAQ OMX platform (Horizon) with one powered by the renowned X-stream technology. The upgrade is expected to be rolled out by mid-year 2014. "We […]
