Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
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 […]
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad hosted a reception to celebrate the opening of Citi’s representative office in Baghdad. Citi [Citigroup] is the biggest financial services corporation in the United States. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Beecroft stated during the ceremony: “U.S. companies, such as Citi, are demonstrating tremendous commitment to Iraq. Our companies bring capital […]
By John Lee. HSBC said today [Tuesday] that it is considering selling its 70.1 percent stake in Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank (BDSI), which has made it the main international lender in Iraq. In April, Simon Cooper (pictured), HSBC's chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa, told reporters that its presence in Iraq […]
By John Lee. An American man has pleaded guilty to operating an illegal business selling Iraqi dinar. ArgusLeader reports that 60-year-old David Olmsted, also known as Dale Cooper Jr., received daily Federal Express packages with shrink-wrapped piles of dinar bills that had been smuggled out of Iraq and into Jordan. The man, from South Dakota, was […]
By Mustafa Habib. 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. During the past month of violence, the Iraqi dinar’s value has fluctuated radically. Now black market money men are using Iraq’s poorer passport holders to take […]
By Sherif Salem. As has often been the case in Iraq, developments in recent weeks have inspired both pessimism and optimism. On the one hand, an increase in bomb attacks – with 300 fatalities in April – raised fears of a return to the peak in levels of violence seen of 2005-2006. And events in […]
